White House press secretary Jen Psaki says the Biden administration expects its “investment” in radio ads and “creative approaches” like animated shows to help turn the tide of illegal immigration.
Ms. Psaki made the comment Monday morning as stories by Project Veritas and Axios on overcrowded conditions inside the Customs and Border Protection overflow facility in Donna, Texas, spread across social media.
“If I may, I wanted to, I actually had a little bit of an update or just something I thought would be of interest to many of you, which is some of the steps are we’re taking in these countries to communicate,” Ms. Psaki said. “And a lot of this is through, of course, the State Department and embassies so here’s a few things we’re doing. This will obviously increase over time. But just to give you a sense of our investment: The State Department continues to, we have placed an estimated 17,118 radio ads in Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras since January 21 in Spanish, Portuguese, and six indigenous languages. These ads played on 33 radio stations reaching an estimated 15 million individuals.”
Don’t worry, guys! Jen Psaki says the State Department is publishing ads on Facebook and Instagram telling people in Central America to not come to the United States. Oh, and there are radio ads and even “a comic book and animated show.”
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 22, 2021
That’ll show ’em! pic.twitter.com/kQc3HLZCqa
She also noted similar approaches using Facebook and Instagram before delving into “creative approaches” to stemming the border crisis.
“We’re also taking creative approaches in different countries to make sure we’re reaching people, meeting people where they are,” she added. “In some ways, how we try to do things in the United States. So, as an example, NBC-San Salvador, “Oscuro Comic Book,” an animated show, seeks to deter irregular migration by addressing violence as a driver.”
The Biden administration, however, insists that an influx of thousands of unaccompanied minors at the border since the Democrat took office — more than 9,400 last month — should not be defined as a crisis.
“Children presenting at our border who are fleeing violence, who are fleeing prosecution, who are fleeing terrible situations is not a crisis,” Ms. Psaki added. “We feel that it is our responsibility to humanely approach this circumstance.”
Biden administration: 15,000 unaccompanied minors being held in U.S. custody without enough bed space is a “circumstance” (not a crisis) pic.twitter.com/xdKKsTuzCM
— Chris Martin (@chrisjdmartin) March 22, 2021
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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