The journalists at Good Morning America on Monday marveled at the incompetence of the Biden administration’s border policy, even calling it a “crisis.” But reporter Cecilia Vega still managed to use loaded language, deriding the Trump White House’s “hardline” efforts.
Showing that things have gotten so bad even liberal network journalists can’t hide it anymore, Robin Roberts marveled, “Now to the crisis at the border.” Vega was frank in describing the Biden-created chaos: “The Biden administration, they moved quickly to overturn many of Trump's hardline immigration policies. But critics say they did that without having a plan in place on the ground out here to manage the surge of migrants that followed.”
“Critics say” is a surprising addition. Usually that’s held out to make a liberal attack on conservatives, one designed to hide that it’s coming from liberal journalists. Reporting from the border, Vega highlighted why this is all happening:
This father says he heard President Biden is giving opportunities to people like him and his young son, and he says, “We thank him from the bottom of our hearts.”
At the close of the segment, Vega openly showed her disgust for the Biden administration’s handling of the both the kids in cage angle and the White House’s efforts to hide the truth:
These are not places for kids. They are only supposed to be allowed in these facilities for up to three days. But guys, the Biden administration, they still to this day despite our requests will not allow journalists inside to see what is going on inside those facilities.
Perhaps the Biden administration isn't the open, balanced White House journalists were promised. Too bad it took this long to ponder such an idea.
A transcript of the segment is below. Click “expand” to read more.
Good Morning America
3/22/2021
7:15 AM ETROBIN ROBERTS: Now to the crisis at the border. A record of unaccompanied minors now in the U.S. Border patrol. And the administration struggling to deal with the biggest surge in migrants trying to cross the border in some 20 years. Our chief White House correspondent Cecilia Vega is there at the border in Texas. Good morning, Cecilia.
CECILIA VEGA: Hi, Robin. Good morning to you. The Biden administration, they moved quickly to overturn many of Trump's hardline immigration policies. But critics say they did that without having a plan in place on the ground out here to manage the surge of migrants that followed. Here on the southern border —
U.S BORDER AGENT JHOAN MORENO: They could easily lose their lives out here.
VEGA: — authorities say they've never seen anything like it.
U.S BORDER AGENT: This is a fresh track right here, this one. Maybe those are from yesterday, but this is happening. This is happening right now.
VEGA: I'm out with deputies from Hidalgo County, Texas. Typically they encounter 30 migrants a day. Now --
U.S BORDER AGENT: Now we're getting 30 within 30 minutes.
VEGA: Wow. The surge fueled in part, by children arriving without their parents. This morning, more than 15,000 unaccompanied minors are in federal custody. And ABC has learned the number of them held for facilities ten days has skyrocketed. A five fold increase in the last week. Pieces of their stories left all along these dusty roads. Little kids' jeans. I mean, this is --
MORENO: Yes.
VEGA: A baby's clothes. 2-year-old, 3-year-old? Just a few feet away -- it's a baby carrier.
MORENO: How they get this far is beyond me. I picture my own son, my own daughter. They wouldn't make it.
VEGA: The youngest they've seen, a-month-old baby boy traveling with a family member that was not a parent. At night, scenes like this: A young son taken into border patrol custody. The migrants are fleeing central America, horrible conditions made even worse by recent hurricanes. This father says he heard President Biden is giving opportunities to people like him and his young son, and he says, “We thank him from the bottom of our hearts.” North of the border, the deputies take me to a popular arrival spot called the corner, right on the edge of the Rio Grande. Just a few days ago, this is what it looked like, rafts filled with people. This is the river. This is the first foot on U.S. Soil. Is there anything that's going to stop this?
MORENO: I don't know what they have to do, but it needs to stop. There's got to be a better way.
VEGA: Now President Biden says he will take a trip to the border at some point, but as for the severely overcrowded facilities housing kids, we're seeing more than 800 kids, guys, in these facilities being held there for ten days or more. These are not places for kids. They are only supposed to be allowed in these facilities for up to three days, but guys, the Biden administration, they still to this day despite our requests will not allow journalists inside to see what is going on inside those facilities.
ROBERTS: Despite all requests. And Cecilia, again, what was it like for you to be out there as you were with the patrol?
VEGA: Yeah, it's hard, Robin. It hits you here especially when you are talking about all those children, seeing baby shoes, seeing baby bottles, seeing diapers. It hits you on this level. We're talking about families out here looking for a better life. It's sad all around.
