President Joe Biden addressed his administration\u2019s controversial decision to reopen a Texas facility designed to hold unaccompanied migrant minors during a Univision interview on Friday.<\/p>\n
The facility, located in Carrizo Springs, was opened by the Trump administration to house 700 teenagers aged 13 to 17 and closed only a month later in the summer of 2019.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s team has said that its reopening is a temporary measure designed to cope with increased numbers of migrant children crossing the U.S. and Mexico border, as well as COVID-19 closing other facilities for minors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now there\u2019s thousands of unaccompanied children coming across the border,\u201d Biden told Univision\u2019s Ilia Calderon. \u201cWe\u2019ve been able to place a significant number of them in licensed facilities throughout the country … In Texas, they opened up one … used in the last administration.\u00a0Our hope and expectation is that won\u2019t stay open very long and that we\u2019ll be able to provide for every kid who comes across the border safely to be housed in a facility that\u2019s licensed.\u201d<\/p>\n
First lady Jill Biden, who was also present during the interview, echoed her husband\u2019s remarks and said that the Biden administration\u2019s priorities were to house migrant children, offer them mental health and legal services and reunite them with family members in a \u201chumane way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
White House press secretary Jen Psaki conveyed a similar message during a Thursday appearance on \u201cThe View.\u201d Psaki defended the reopening, arguing that temporarily housing unaccompanied children in a revamped facility was significantly different from family separation at the border, which was a common practice during the Trump era.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the decision has garnered criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortz (D-N.Y.) calling it unacceptable \u201cno matter the administration or party,\u201d and arguing that the entire U.S. immigration system is \u201cbuilt on a carceral framework.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Former Trump senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, meanwhile, argued that Biden\u2019s immigration policies were \u201ccruel\u201d during a Fox News appearance on Wednesday, despite the fact that he was a major proponent of family separation during his time in the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n