A White House official said President Biden’s description of a “crisis” at the U.S. southern border with Mexico is not reflective of the Democrat’s administration.
CNN cited the anonymous official Monday in a piece titled “White House backtracks after Biden calls border situation a ’crisis.’”
“No, there is no change in position,” the official told the network in reference to Mr. Biden’s “crisis” comment at Wilmington Country Club over the weekend. “Children coming to our border seeking refuge from violence, economic hardships and other dire circumstances is not a crisis.”
The Biden administration has consistently refused to acknowledge the situation at the border — thousands of unaccompanied minors flooding the region and overcrowding U.S. facilities — as a crisis.
Instead, it has called the chaos a “circumstance.”
“Children presenting at our border who are fleeing violence, who are fleeing prosecution, who are fleeing terrible situations is not a crisis,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in March. “We feel that it is our responsibility to humanely approach this circumstance.”
CNN’s White House source stuck to the message Monday.
“The federal government’s response and process has been laser-focused on finding solutions that allow us to address these root causes,” the source added, which mirrors Vice President Kamala Harris’s rhetoric on the issue. “[We will] expand capacity space and quickly transfer children to relatives. We remain focused on getting children out of CBP facilities, into proper facilities, and ultimately united with relatives or sponsors who are safe and have been vetted.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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