Current and former Customs and Border Protection officials told NBC News that President Joe Biden’s administration restricts information the agency can tell the media about the border crisis.
The officials described the restrictions as a “gag order.” They also said no one gave the direction with an official memo. Instead, they’ve passed down instruction through word of mouth.
Although only a few months old, the Biden administration has remained hush-hush on the border crisis:
Border Patrol officials have been told to deny all media requests for “ride-alongs” with agents along the southern land border; local press officers are instructed to send all information queries, even from local media, to the press office in Washington for approval; and those responsible for cultivating data about the number of migrants in custody have been reminded not to share the information with anyone to prevent leaks, the officials said.Multiple news organizations, including NBC News, have requested access to or photos from inside overcrowded border processing facilities holding unaccompanied migrant children; they have been denied. The DHS press office released one photo late Tuesday of a mother and child undergoing a health screening inside a border facility, but no wider shots to show conditions or sleeping arrangements.
President Donald Trump allowed the media to tour facilities and join ride-along with agents despite the same media stretching the truth about immigration policy.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson insisted Biden’s administration is following policy set in 2014. However, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas promised transparency with the media.
The secretive nature has led to people releasing videos and information. I blogged last Friday about a video showing smugglers bringing over migrants on a boat.
Unfortunately, we do not know for sure when the smuggling took place. But as long as the Biden administration keeps everything hidden we can assume the video is recent.
How about earlier this week when the Chairman of the subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations admitted he had no idea about officials arresting people on the FBI Terrorist list?
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said officials arrested terrorists trying to cross the border. The left and Democrats, including Chairman Ruben Gallego, laughed at McCarthy.
Axios reported a few hours later that border patrol arrested four terrorists on the wanted list since October 1.
Let’s not forget about the 13,000 unaccompanied children held in cages.
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