White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki effectively muzzled Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy when he suggested President Joe Biden's Administration was guilty of hypocrisy over his policy's handling of migrant children.
Psaki earlier commented on Biden's policy of not expelling minor migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border unaccompanied by an adult.
To give context, she explained the process under the policy by which Customs and Border Control transfer unaccompanied minor migrants to the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement – which is taking steps to open a temporary emergency facility to add capacity because of the pandemic so the children can be safely taken care of before being placed with families and sponsors.
Doocy attempted his gotcha question by accusing the Biden Administration of the double standard in reopening the same Trump-era facility they criticized and asking how this was any different.
Psaki replied:
"We very much feel that way. These are facilities -- let me be clear here -- one, there's a pandemic going on? I'm sure you're not suggesting that we have children right next to each other in ways that are not [the virus] safe, are you?"
You can watch the video of the press briefing, below.
Doocy continued:
"I'm suggesting that Kamala Harris said that this facility -- putting people in this facility was a human rights abuse committed by the United States government."
"And Joe Biden said, 'Under Trump, there have been horrifying scenes at the border of kids being kept in cages.' Now, it's not under Trump, it's under Biden."
Psaki clarified:
"This is not kids being kept in cages."
And when Doocy asserted it was "the same facility," Psaki responded:
"This is kids — this is a facility that was opened that's going to follow the same standards as other HHS facilities. It is not a replication. Certainly not. That's — that is never our intention of replicating the immigration policies of the past administration."
"But we are in a circumstance where we are not going to expel unaccompanied minors at the border. That would be inhumane. That is not what we are going to do here, as an administration."
She added:
"We need to find places that are safe under [the virus] protocols for kids to be, where they can have access to education, health and mental services consistent with their best interest. Our goal is for them to then be transferred to families or sponsors. "
"So this is our effort to ensure that kids are treated — are not close — in close proximity and that we are abiding by the health and safety standards that the government has been set out."
As you were, Doocy.
