On Monday's Andrea Mitchell Reports, MSNBC's Garrett Haake "reported" from the border in El Paso, if you think editorializing about this crisis is reporting. He wondered, "Do these congressional Republicans here want to make this a Biden administration scandal or do they want to propose meaningful solutions on their own?"
Reverse that. Can you imagine MSNBC saying this to Democrats in the Trump years?
Mitchell led off the segment by resorting to the "Republicans seize" trope. "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is leading a delegation to the southern border today as Republicans try to seize on the new surge of unaccompanied children to the border to attack President Biden’s halting of the Trump border policies."
Continuing with that theme, Mitchell added:
This as the Biden administration is facing a growing challenge there with more than 3,200 migrant children crossing into the U.S. last week alone. House Republicans are calling the recent influx a Biden border crisis, they say the Biden Administration made it worse by reversing those Trump-era immigration policies, including no longer requiring asylum seekers to remain on the Mexican side of the border. Democrats and immigration activists say that policy has been inhumane and had to be changed.
Mitchell then went to Haake, who said Republicans came to the border to assess the scene and are "going to meet with reporters after that to talk about what they say is a crisis at the border brought on by Biden administration softening of Trump administration-era immigration policies."
Haake then cited Democrats' claims that, "those same draconian policies put in place by the Trump Administration essentially created a time bomb here." But even Haake realized that reversing the "Remain in Mexico" policy, set that time bomb off:
They bottled up asylum seekers in Mexico waiting to get across the border and now what they have is a surge primarily with unaccompanied minors coming across the border because those are the only people who can effectively apply for asylum right now based on the Biden Administration’s new rules.
Haake reported that setting off that time bomb has strained Border Patrol and HHS resources, but instead of blaming Biden for reversing Trump's policies, this is where he blamed Republicans: "Do Congressional Republicans here want to make this a Biden Administration scandal or do they want to propose meaningful solutions on their own and what do they look like in the Biden era?"
A few moments later, Mitchell turned to MSNBC reporter/activist Jacob Soboroff, plugging his book Separated about Trump's border policies. Soboroff began by echoing Haake: "Garrett's question is exactly right for the Republicans. If this is a humanitarian crisis as indeed it is in the border patrol facilities; jails were you have hundreds if not thousands of children with overcrowded conditions. What is the solution? Is this simply a political crisis, or are you going to propose ways to house these children?"
This segment was sponsored by Verizon.
Here is a transcript for the March 15 show:
MSNBC
Andrea Mitchell Reports12:05 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is leading a delegation to the southern border today as Republicans try to seize on the new surge of unaccompanied children to the border to attack President Biden’s halting of the Trump border policies. This as the Biden administration is facing a growing challenge there with more than 3,200 migrant children crossing into the U.S. last week alone.
House Republicans are calling the recent influx a Biden Border Crisis, they say the Biden Administration made it worse by reversing those Trump-era immigration policies Including no longer requiring asylum seekers to remain on the Mexican side of the border. Democrats and immigration activists say that policy has been inhumane and had to be changed. Now the Biden Administration is deploying FEMA to move migrant children from overcrowded border patrol stations that were mostly built for Mexican men, adult men, into shelters to get the human services they need. They’re also considering housing children at unused school buildings, military bases, even a vacant NASA site. NBC’s Garrett Haake has the latest from El Paso, Texas.
GARRETT HAAKE: Hey Andrea, good afternoon. Right now, Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and a dozen or so Republican House members are getting a tour by Customs and Border Patrol here, they’re going to meet with reporters after that to talk about what they say is a crisis at the border brought on by Biden Administration softening of Trump Administration-era immigration policies, Democrats and immigration activists say that
those same draconian policies put in place by the Trump Administration essentially created a time bomb here. They bottled up asylum seekers in Mexico waiting to get across the border and now what they have is a surge primarily with unaccompanied minors coming across the border because those are the only people who can effectively apply for asylum right now based on the Biden Administration’s new rules. So these folks are coming across the border right now, they're straining resources at Border Patrol, they’re straining resources at HHS which has been limited by the pandemic, the federal government is making this larger response and we're strong see now, what, if any, congressional response will there be. Do Congressional Republicans here want to make this a Biden Administration scandal or do they want to propose meaningful solutions on their own and what do they look like in the Biden era and those are the questions for leader McCarthy when I get to talk to him later today, Andrea?…
JACOB SOBOROFF: Well, a couple of things, Andrea and Garrett's question is exactly right for the Republicans if this is a humanitarian crisis as indeed it is in the border patrol facilities; jails were you have hundreds if not thousands of children with overcrowded conditions. What is the solution? Is this simply a political crisis or are you going to propose ways to house these children and get them out of those inhumane conditions and into places the one Health and Human Services is looking at here in the San Francisco bay area.
