White House press secretary Jen Psaki faced questions Tuesday about unaccompanied migrant children receiving in-person instruction in San Diego schools before American children were cleared to return.
Some teachers have volunteered to teach in-class education for the migrant children, while the San Diego Unified School District will not begin hybrid-learning for American students until April 12, according to Fox News.
Psaki said “the context is important” and reiterated that President Joe Biden’s goal was to get back to class five days a week at most schools across the country.
“I believe they’re also on spring break right now. I am not sure if it’s volunteer or paid,” Psaki said.
Teachers were volunteering for the job and were helping migrant children through English-language lessons, a spokesman from the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) said to Fox News.
“All children in California, regardless of immigration status, have a constitutional right to education. We also have a moral obligation to ensure a bright future for our children,” the spokesperson added. (RELATED: Poll: Half Of Americans Consider Situation At Border A ‘Crisis’)
Some have criticized the decision.
“We have 130,000 kids who haven’t been allowed in a classroom for over a year in … San Diego … It’s great that there’s in-person learning for those unaccompanied minors from Central America, but I wish every child in San Diego County was allowed the same opportunity for in-person teaching,” a supervisor from San Diego, Jim Desmond, told Fox News.
The San Diego County Board of Education will be sending teachers for in-person learning for the migrant children at the convention center. It’s great there’s in-person learning for them, I wish every child in San Diego County was allowed the same opportunity.
— Supervisor Jim Desmond (@jim_desmond) March 29, 2021
San Diego was just one location where the Biden administration was housing the excess unaccompanied minors streaming across the border in record numbers. The administration recently struck an agreement to house some migrant children in the San Diego Convention Center until July.
Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services is also looking to house some children at military facilities. The detention centers at the border were significantly over capacity, and more children are coming in than can be processed in a timely manner.