CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pushed White House press secretary Jen Psaki on why the administration has skirted around calling the situation at the border a “crisis” Thursday.
“The administration has refused to call it a crisis, instead referring to it as a challenge and saying what you call it doesn’t make a difference of how you’re responding to it, but now today there are over 3,700 children – unaccompanied migrant children – in border patrol custody,” Collins noted.
“They’re spending on average over 100 hours – four days – in these facilities that are jail-like facilities not meant for children, so how can you say that’s not a crisis?” she continued.
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Psaki reiterated that “it doesn’t matter what you call it” and referred to the situation as “an enormous challenge.” She said the issue is important to President Joe Biden and promised that “there are a variety of actions under consideration” as the administration attempts to handle a surge of migrants trying to enter the country.
“Our focus here is getting to the root of the issues and taking actions, and we don’t feel the need to play games with what it’s called,” Psaki ultimately said.
After Psaki’s response, which skirted around directly answering how the administration hasn’t deemed it a crisis despite the numbers Collins gave, the CNN reporter followed up by noting the steps Psaki outlined seemed to be ones the administration “would take if it was a crisis.”
“These are the policies we are taking to address what we feel is a vital human challenge at the border, but what our responsibility here is to do is to project and convey what policies we’re taking, what the president’s commitment is. That’s exactly what we’re doing and we don’t see the need to put new labels,” Psaki reiterated. (RELATED: CDC Allows Child Migrant Facilities To Operate At 100% Capacity)
Collins is a former employee of the Daily Caller.
A Biden administration official announced Wednesday that agents encountered over 9,000 unaccompanied minors in February alone. This number has skyrocketed compared to previous months and years. Internal documents revealed earlier in March also indicated that child migration is quickly overcoming the administration’s resources.