Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas responded Tuesday to claims the administration is giving “pallets” of baby formula to migrants.
Mayorkas argued Tuesday on CBS News that the connection drawn by some Republicans between the national baby formula shortage and the availability of formula at migrant detention facilities is “false and repugnant.”
“We are taking care of the basic needs of people in our custody,” Mayorkas said, according to CBS News. “We are taking care of the basic needs of babies, and that includes baby formula. The connection between honoring our humanitarian and legal obligation to those babies and a supply issue in the interior of the United States is false and repugnant.” (RELATED: ”Soon’ Sounds Good If You Don’t Have A Baby Who’s Hungry’: Now Even MSNBC Is Grilling Biden Officials Over Formula Shortage)
Republican Florida Rep. Kat Cammack alleged migrants were receiving ample supplies of baby formula while American families are experiencing shortages nationwide. Cammack shared a photo on Twitter purportedly showing photos taken by a McAllen, Texas border patrol agent that showed fully stocked shelves of formula.
The first photo is from this morning at the Ursula Processing Center at the U.S. border. Shelves and pallets packed with baby formula.
The second is from a shelf right here at home. Formula is scarce.
This is what America last looks like. pic.twitter.com/OO0V99njoy
— Kat Cammack (@Kat_Cammack) May 11, 2022
Cammack said during a recent Facebook livestream that a border patrol agent sent her the pictures and told her “this is disgusting. You will not believe this. They’re receiving pallets, and more pallets of baby formula at the border.”
Amid the nationwide shortage, the Food and Drug Administration (FDAA) announced Monday it would relax import rules and allow formula to be imported from Mexico, Ireland and the Netherlands. Companies will need to receive FDA approval.
By April 24, 40% of the top baby formula products were out of stock, CBS News reported. The FDA also allowed a Michigan Abbott Nutrition plant to begin producing formula again after a February shutdown.