Axios reporter Jonathan Swan suggested Friday the crisis at the U.S. southern border should have been “foreseeable” by President Joe Biden’s administration when they ended some of the border policies put in place by former President Donald Trump.
While appearing on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” Swan explained to host Dana Perino it was “puzzling” how the administration didn’t see the issues at the border coming as a result of the policy changes, and that they are now “scrambling” to deal with the crisis. (RELATED: Rep. Matt Gaetz Says Taxpayer Money Fueling Migrant Waves: ‘US Government May Be One Of The Biggest Human Traffickers’)
Perino began by noting the administration is on a “victory tour” because they got the coronavirus relief package signed into law. She then asked Swan what was going on “behind the scenes” at the White House, and if the administration recognizes their problems at the border.
“There’s a lot of concern inside the administration about what’s happening on the border, and the thing I found puzzling is that it was foreseeable,” Swan responded. “There were, obviously, events in some of these Northern Triangle countries … to cause it, but also their policy. They changed Trump’s policy of turning back unaccompanied minors at the border, so, sure enough, we have a surge of unaccompanied minors.
“They didn’t have the facilities for them, the problem’s getting worse, so it was foreseeable. They didn’t seem to have necessarily thought that through,” he added.
He explained that the administration is “scrambling” to get federal resources and FEMA to the border, and it’s “definitely a problem they don’t really want to be talking about.”
Swan then argued the administration has been trying to tackle the economy and the coronavirus pandemic as the problem at the border has gotten worse. He concluded there’s “a lot of anxiety” within the administration over the border, but that Biden’s approval numbers “are great” and the economy is doing well, which could help them “overcome” the border crisis.
The Biden administration announced Tuesday they would not expel unaccompanied migrant children from the U.S., even though the facilities holding them continue to run out of room. Apprehensions of migrant children and the number of border crossings have both skyrocketed since Biden took office. However, the administration was reportedly warned by former Trump officials and members of Congress from border districts of the looming crisis for months.