On Tuesday, ABC’s Good Morning America was the only network morning show to notice a massive surge in illegal immigration during the initial weeks of the Biden administration. The broadcast even declared that the President was “under fire this morning from both Democrats and Republicans.”
“The number of migrants hoping to enter the U.S. on the rise. At least 200 children without parents trying to come to the U.S. each day,” co-host George Stephanopoulos proclaimed at the top of the show. He then added: “The government is running out of beds as the President comes under fire from fellow Democrats over where they’re being kept.”
Minutes later, correspondent Cecilia Vega continued to describe the Biden White House being “under fire” from both sides of the aisle:
Listen to this one, Border Patrol agents encountered a migrant at the southern border at least 78,000 times in January alone, that’s the highest for that month in at least a decade. And how the Biden administration tackles this problem has them under fire this morning from both Democrats and Republicans.
The reporter noted: “...the Border Patrol planning to send more agents to the southern border as an influx of migrants there hope to cross,” before a clip played of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas denying there was a “crisis” at the U.S. southern border: “I think there is a challenge at the border that we are managing.”
Vega actually followed up with a fact check: “But the reality, the numbers are on the rise. Every day Border Patrol agents apprehend an average of 200 children crossing without their parents and the thousands of beds in government facilities where those kids would be cared for, nearly all taken.”
After ABC initially joined NBC and CBS in ignoring the Biden administration’s hypocrisy when it comes to housing migrant children in detention facilities, on Tuesday, Vega acknowledged:
And now the administration is under fire from some in their own party who say those children are being housed in the very tent cities Democrats criticize the Trump administration for using. The Biden White House says they’re just trying to keep kids safe while they work to reunite them with family or send them to a foster program as officials attempt to rebuild what they call an immoral immigration policy left behind by President Trump.
One thing missing from the story was any admission that Biden’s plans to ease immigration law enforcement likely led directly to the influx.
While NBC’s Today show ignored the topic of immigration completely on Tuesday, CBS This Morning provided a full report denouncing the Trump administration’s child separation policy without a word of criticism of the Biden administration’s current handling of the situation.
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Here is a full transcript of the March 2 report on ABC’s Good Morning America:
7:01 AM ET TEASE
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Border crossing. The number of migrants hoping to enter the U.S. on the rise. At least 200 children without parents trying to come to the U.S. each day. The government is running out of beds as the President comes under fire from fellow Democrats over where they’re being kept. The message from the white house this morning.
7:13 AM ET SEGMENT
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re gonna go to Washington now and the Biden administration grappling with the situation at the border with Mexico. The number of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. is rising and the government’s resources are being pushed to the limit. Chief White House correspondent Cecilia Vega has the latest. Good morning, Cecilia.
CECILIA VEGA: Yeah, George, good morning to you. Listen to this one, Border Patrol agents encountered a migrant at the southern border at least 78,000 times in January alone, that’s the highest for that month in at least a decade. And how the Biden administration tackles this problem has them under fire this morning from both Democrats and Republicans.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Biden and the Border; Administration Grapples With Growing Migrant Influx]
This morning, the Border Patrol planning to send more agents to the southern border as an influx of migrants there hope to cross. And despite scenes like this, new Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says this is not a crisis.
ALEJANDO MAYORKAS: I think there is a challenge at the border that we are managing.
VEGA: But the reality, the numbers are on the rise. Every day Border Patrol agents apprehend an average of 200 children crossing without their parents and the thousands of beds in government facilities where those kids would be cared for, nearly all taken. And now the administration is under fire from some in their own party who say those children are being housed in the very tent cities Democrats criticize the Trump administration for using. The Biden White House says they’re just trying to keep kids safe while they work to reunite them with family or send them to a foster program as officials attempt to rebuild what they call an immoral immigration policy left behind by President Trump.
MAYORKAS: It takes time to build out of the depths of cruelty that the administration before us established.
VEGA: As ABC’s Matt Gutman found, the rollback of Trump policies is giving asylum seekers like these hope at this border encampment in Matamoros, Mexico.
MATT GUTMAN: They are just some of the 25,000 migrants that have been waiting, some of them for up to two years, for their chance to have their cases heard in the U.S.
VEGA: But even as so many families hope it might now be their turn, the message from the White House, “Don’t cross, not yet anyway.”
MAYORKAS: We are not saying don’t come. We are saying don’t come now because we will be able to deliver a safe and orderly process to them as quickly as possible.
VEGA: So there is now a task force under way to try to reunite these families that were separated under that controversial Trump administration policy. Secretary Mayorkas says the Biden administration will allow these families the option of being reunited – if they can find them assuming – in the United States or in their home country. If it happens in the United States, they are exploring legal options for them to stay, George. But listen to this, we are still talking about 500 children to this day still separated from their families, more than 500.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Such a complicated and horrible human problem. Okay, Cecilia, thanks very much.
