 So by now I'm sure that you have seen this story from the Washington Post that is making the rounds on social media titled first migrant facility for children opens under Biden Now I think that it is really important that leftists know the details of this story because as Leftists myself included criticize Joe Biden for doing what Donald Trump did effectively Liberals are saying you know what leftists are just Disingenuously smearing Joe Biden because they don't have the details. They're not willing to dive into the nuance And what I want to do in this video is just that I want to dive into the details I want to be nuanced because regardless of the propaganda that we're seeing at the behest of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party establishment There's not really a way to defend this either Way you cut it like however you look at this or try to spin it This is bad and if Donald Trump did this I think that liberals would be outraged but because it's Joe Biden Liberals and some leftists, but mostly liberals are saying, you know, it's not what it looks like I promise it's not what it looks like but in actuality. This is an issue So we're gonna read a lot of this article This is probably gonna be a pretty long video But I think that this video at this topic in general deserves a lot of time But first I want to show you an exchange between Jen Psaki and Peter Ducey who asks her what I think is a pretty Fair question with regard to this and and let's watch what she has to say They're Trump there have been horrifying scenes at the border of kids being kept in cages and Kamala Harris said Basically babies in cages is a human rights abuse being committed by the United States government. So how is this any different than that? We very much feel that way And 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 COVID safe. Are you 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 Jill Biden said Under Trump there have been horrifying scenes of border at the border of kids being kept in cages It's not under Trump. It's under Biden. This is not kids being kept in cages. This is 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 though That's that does 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 We need to find places that are safe under COVID protocols for kids to be where they can have access to education health and mental services Consistent with their best interests. Our goal is for them to then be transferred to families or sponsors So this is our effort to ensure that kids are treated or not In close proximity and that we are abiding by the health and safety standards that the government has been set out So there's a lot going on there. First of all, is his question fair? Yes, although ross story framed this as a gotcha question when in actuality I don't think that this is a gotcha question. Is this a conservative who wants to Get the democratic party? Sure, but I think that the Question that he posed to the white house press secretary jansaki is pretty reasonable Now, uh, there's a lot of things to consider here. First of all, is this different than donald trump technically? Yes, because donald trump had the family separation policy that he instituted and the goal of this policy Was the cruelty that was the goal So if you separate children from their parents at the border that would act as a deterrent To stop other immigrants from trying to come into the country and deterrence isn't necessarily Something that came up just with donald trump during the obama administration The obama era they instituted this program called atep alien transfer exit program where they would deport Someone who came to this country illegally and drop them off at some like random place in their home country Which is an issue because oftentimes They're not going to be in stable locations. They could be without housing and they may not know anyone They could literally be in danger. So it's a really cruel way to send a message to people saying, hey You're not welcome in our country. So There is the difference there that you want to Point out and I think that david dole did a phenomenal job at really distinguishing between donald trump and joe biden's Program differences here. Having said that though, uh, she speaks to The need to find somewhere to house these migrants Because we have an influx of unaccompanied minors coming here now during the trump years Uh, particularly in may of 2020 as one example, which is cited a lot There were a lot of migrant teens uh adolescents unaccompanied minors that showed up And they were turned away trump's administration didn't even Give them the chance to make their case So I don't want people to think that turning them away would be Preferable that's not the case. We should be welcoming them because remember it is our policies the policies of the u.s. government that destabilized latin america that led to an influx in immigration So we should be trying to right the wrongs of our policy failure So I don't think that turning migrant children away is the correct strategy I also think that yes, they should be following covid protocols I don't want to see these facilities at over capacity The issue overall however is that when you step back And you look at all of these things, uh, you know the the facts of the matter. Yes, there's a pandemic going on Yes, we don't want to turn these teens away And on top of that we want to make sure that the teens in this instance are cared for and that they're not just Going to be released Into the wild in the united states if you will And they'll just become homeless teenagers of course we want them to be cared for But under the umbrella of all of this it's all happening in the context of incarceration And what people are drawing attention to is the fact that even if we are not turning away these teens Even if we're trying to follow proper pandemic protocols, they are still being detained They still cannot leave and so the broader question here is why are we responding to unaccompanied minors? By effectively Jailing them putting kids in cages because that is quite literally what is happening Now if you read this article from the washington post You might take away a little bit more of a charitable picture of what's happening because uh, the spokesperson for hhs mark webber Um, he basically says look this isn't as bad As people are making it out to be sure technically there are kids in not cages, but We don't want to say cages. We said cages during the trump era. Uh, but It's not that bad. So we're going to read what he says We're going to read the article that gives us the details here And then we're going to juxtapose what we learned in this article with this article from, uh, Mustafa bayoumi of the guardian who actually puts everything into perspective because while it might sound at face value Reasonable for joe biden to do this in actuality It's not reasonable and I also want to get to what aoc says about this as well So this is going to be long. I'm going to read quite a bit of this But I do think it's important that we be, uh, thorough here. So this is by sylvia foster frau um, he writes dozens of Migrant teens boarded vans monday for the trip down a dusty road to a former man camp for oil field workers here The first migrant child facility opened under the biden administration the emergency facility a vestige of the trump administration That was open for only a month in summer of 2019 is being reactivated to hold up to 700 children ages 13 to 17 Now this particular facility This was meant to detain immigrants that came here illegally and we're effectively using a jail To house children or jail children like i'm not necessarily worried about the framing here But we need to understand the context of what's happening and where these children are being held Government officials say the camp is needed because facilities for migrant children Have had to cut capacity by nearly half because of the coronavirus pandemic at the same time the number of unaccompanied Children crossing the border has been inching up with january reporting the highest total more than 5,700 apprehensions For that month in recent years. So understand there is a problem And we need to figure out how to humanely Deal with this issue. There has to be a humane solution rather than just putting them in jails Of course, it is more cruel to turn them away Which could endanger their lives So i'm not saying that biden should do what trump did But what i am saying is that perhaps we should rethink the entire system To where we just instinctively put children In cages in in jails. Um now we're gonna skip a little bit here So during the campaign biden pledged to undo former president Donald trump's hardline immigration policies in his first month in office biden signed several executive orders reversing many of those policies Last week he and the house democrats introduced a plan that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants The administration also reversed one of trump's expulsion practices by accepting unaccompanied children into the country A change that also is contributing to an increase of minors and government facilities official set now also to give biden credit where it's due he also Undid the really really disgusting remain in mexico policy to where if someone is seeking asylum We don't admit them into the country while they wait to make their case We force them to remain in mexico And that doesn't really make sense if they're seeking asylum here Then why shouldn't we hear them out here where we can keep them safe and make sure that uh, they're not going to be in danger that they won't um That they won't fall victim to uh anything that could endanger their lives. Um, which is why they're left in the first place So it's good that he did that Additionally, uh, he also signed an executive order that halts most deportations for 100 days and i say most Because he uh did permit deportations of individuals who committed crimes to be deported until a judge in texas Decided to block that order now while the case was being litigated joe biden could have postponed All of the deportations that were scheduled to take place But he didn't do that and his lack of action led to deportations continuing as they were scheduled to do so And as you've seen in the video i posted, uh, just recently, uh, now he's basically abandoned that pledge entirely There's an article in law and crime by colin kombacher who explains this in great detail So let's get to what biden's administration is saying. This is the spin if you will So mark weber a spokesman for the department of health and human services the agency that oversees services for migrant children Said the biden administration is moving away From the law enforcement focused approach of the trump administration and one in which uh child welfare is more centric at the 66 acre site groups of beige trailers In circle a giant white dining tent a soccer field and a basketball court There is a bright blue hospital tent with white bunk beds inside a legal services trailer has the spanish word Bienvenidos or welcome on a banner on its roof. Uh, there are trailers for classrooms a barbershop a hair salon The facility has its own ambulances and fire trucks as well as its own water supply So understand the juxtaposition here that they want us to think about when we envisioned, uh, child separation under donald trump Uh, you know, we oftentimes learn that there were really crowded spaces that immigrants were forced into they weren't allowed phone calls They weren't allowed to shower and whatnot. So what they're saying here is these are actually Really nice facilities children can play they can play basketball. It's it's uh, They have classrooms and whatnot here. Um, and so what they're trying to do Very deliberately here is not get you to think of these Uh detention facilities if you will as jails rather as you know more accommodating towards children We're not trying to be overly cruel and that may very well be the case But I mean would you say that the legal system in the united states the jail system in the united states Is any less cruel because oftentimes they have basketball courts and allow for recreational outdoor activities Well, of course not. This is a tactic to kind of like deflect and not get you to think about the fact that we are Basically jailing these children now The operation is based On a federal emergency management system. Weber said the trailers are labeled with names such as alpha charlie and echo staff members wear matching black and white t-shirts displaying their roles disaster case manager incident report emergency Management the most colorful trailer is an entryway where flowers butterflies and handmade posters still hang on its walls from Carrizo's first opening in 2019 HHS has 13,200 beds for children having exploded in growth in the past four years Adding more than 80 facilities for a total of about 200 Weber said putting children in permanent shelters is preferable to the influx shelters like Carrizo But nearly half of those beds are unusable during the pandemic So, you know on one hand the question is well, why aren't these kids being put into foster care immediately? Why are they staying here for approximately? 30 days um And and if it is the case that the foster care system is overwhelmed right now because there is an influx of Unaccompanied minors crossing the border Then of course we have to figure out what do we do and there really is no easy answer to this But I think that the main thing that the left is focusing on here and trying to argue is that we don't treat them Like prisoners when they come here Of course reopening a jail that Trump's administration held immigrants in who he treated as criminals Isn't the answer of course. There's got to be a better way, right? so Weber said the facilities received a bad rap under the Trump administration because many people associated them with the detention centers run by immigrant Immigration and customs enforcement ICE But the children always received good care and that never wavered between administrations. He said um Now this right here is where he kind of puts his foot in his mouth because to say that the children received good care Um, you can say okay once we ripped the children away from the parents during the trump era We cared for them well, but that's still child abuse Taking a child away from its parent That is traumatizing. It leads to long-term psychological damage. That's child abuse. So to even say that the children receive good care doubt doubt to say the least Um, the the the majority of child migrant facilities are subject to state licensing requirements temporary influx centers like chorizo are not However, Weber said chorizo would meet or exceed texas licensing standards if applicable The influx facilities also cost more about $775 a day per child compared with $290 a day for permanent centers So Weber said the influx shelters keep children from ending up in border patrol Stations, uh, which have holding cells that were not designed for children During the 2019 immigrants immigration surge, many migrants were stuck in overcrowded cells for prolonged periods that exceeded Legal limits. So basically he's trying to propose an alternative to you If we don't put them here in this jail cell Then they're gonna end up in the really bad jail cells, which are meant for the adult immigrants And we don't want that right So basically I think that that's About all that we need from this. I wanted to give you The picture that they're trying to paint for the rest of us in order to downplay um Downplay what's happening here downplay the fact that a trump era migrant jail has been reopened For children and you can accept that there are complexities here the influx of unaccompanied minors again I want to emphasize that does pose a logistical issue, especially during a pandemic. I'm not saying That uh, we should turn them away. But let me show you by reading this article from the guardian um Why what we're seeing here the picture that the biden administration mark weber is presenting to us Is nothing more than propaganda So he argues this week the biden administration did the unthinkable it reopened a trump era detention site for migrant children The detention center a reconverted camp for oil field workers in caruso springs, texas is expected to hold 700 children between the ages of seven of 13 and 17 and dozens of kids Have already arrived there. So there's going to be a little bit of overlap between this article and the other article Because it was the other article. So um, forgive me for the redundancy, but I think it is important that we be thorough here So we get a clear picture of what's happening This is an awful development Reminding me of some of the worst abuses of the trump years and while we obviously don't know how this ominous development Will play out in the long run What we do know is this unaccompanied migrant children deserve compassion Not detention and that is the main takeaway like it or not by putting them in this facility We're still treating them as if they are criminals We may be treating them more kindly than we treat adult criminals, but nonetheless They're still being treated as criminals and the approach that we're calling for Is compassion and not just compassion an entirely new approach where we overthrow the previous fascistic regime that was in place abolish ice, which is a fascist organization Regardless of liberals want to admit that or not and anyone who supports the existence of ice is complicit in supporting fascism in the united states But to continue here, but rather than seeking out a new and better solutions Which is what we're calling for the biden administration is instead trying to sell us an image of a kinder gentler imprisonment That's the issue. That's the issue with the washington post article How else are we to understand the words of mark weber spokesperson for health and human services? The agency that oversees the welfare of unaccompanied migrant children Weber told the washington post that the biden administration is moving away from the law enforcement focused approach of the trump administration To one in which child welfare is more centric that may play well as a soundbite But how welfare centric is it to place children in jail in the first place? And if you don't think it's a jail, you should know that the unaccompanied teens sent to the carrizo spring's shelter Will not be allowed to leave the facility as reported by the news website border report dot com That is a really great point. If it's not a jail, can they leave again? We don't want these children to come to the united states and be uh homeless Right, but do they have the autonomy to leave if they came to the united states and they have a loved one to stay with Uh the answer is no they do not That's really important. That's key here It gets worse the camps operation will be based on a federal emergency management system Where trailers are labeled with names such as alpha charlie and echo names Which are commonly used in military detention practices camp echo for example is a notorious site in guantanamo bay Yeah, and while staff members will thankfully not be sporting military gear The government spokesman makes a point to tell us That they will wear matching black and white t-shirts displaying their roles disaster case manager in incident support emergency management and that the most colorful trailer Is at the entryway where flowers butterflies and handmade posters still hang on its walls from carrizo's first opening in 2019 Give me a break The problem with this sort of language is that it hides the brute reality of detention and covers it up With the rosie rhetoric of summer camp the post story describes the center as a 66 acre site where groups of beige trailers encircle a giant white dining tent a soccer field and a bay and a basketball court There is a bright blue hospital tent with white bunk beds inside a legal services trailer Has the spanish word bien venidos or welcome on a banner on its roof There are trailers for classrooms a barbershop a hair salon Who I wonder is really comforted by a welcome banner on a roof the jailers or the jailed Think I'm being ungenerous that the biden administration is merely trying to articulate to the public How its detention scheme will be more salubrious than trumps? Well, if that's the case then health concerns, especially during a pandemic would be paramount We've been told by the government that these children will arrive at carrizo springs after a period of quarantine And will all be tested for coveted before entry yet when borderreport.com asked hhs whether everyone entering the facility And not just these teens will be tested for the virus. They did not receive a direct answer It doesn't stop there despite the language coming from the administration These children are facing a terrible and possibly illegal situation in 1997 a class action lawsuit settlement established standards for the detention and release of Unaccompanied minors taken into custody by the authorities according to the florida settlement agreement The federal government must transfer these unaccompanied children to a non-secure and licensed facility within days of being in custody In an emergency the government can keep the children for up to 30 days While seeking to reunite them with family members or place them with a sponsor Meanwhile, the carrizo spring site is a secure site. The kids can't leave is unlicensed by the state of texas It's operated by a government contractor for the office of refugee resettlement and is expected to hold children for 30 days As reported by the washington post which is obviously longer than the 20 days Dictated by the florida agreement. The detention is also very expensive coming in at a cost of $775 a day per child compared with $290 a day for permanent centers All of these extremely disturbing facts surrounding this detention should elicit massive amounts of outrage in all of us But the biden administration seeks to deflect the criticism by assuring us Their version of childhood detention is thoughtful and humane Even while opening a facility where kids are delivered in unmarked vans to an internment camp that is geographically remote And difficult to access. Does it feel like we're being sold a bill of goods? It sure does to me Yes, it's not as malevolent as the family separation policies of trump But if our way of judging political conduct now is whether something is simply better or worse than trump was Then we've elevated trump's actions into our new standard of behavior And when we do that we've lost any genuine sense of judgment in the first place There's no question that with rising numbers of unaccompanied minors arriving at the border during covid The biden administration has a difficult road ahead But expanding a long discredited system that detains children cannot be the answer No matter how good the government wants to make it sound every government spins their message But if we fall unthinkingly for the spin the fault isn't with them It's with us and he's making a really Valid criticism, but he's also being charitable and acknowledging that this is an issue. It's a tough issue I don't necessarily know that we have the right answers here Who knows how to deal with unaccompanied minors if we haven't already changed the system itself But certainly we have to change the system Not focus on detention Uh, but most importantly, I think it's pretty reasonable to expect Our government to not treat children as criminals and that's what's happening here This is a jail That's what this is These are cages that we are keeping children in If we don't call it what it is. We're not being intellectually honest with ourselves Now aoc also called out the biden administration She says this is not okay. Never has been okay. Never will be okay No matter the administration or the party and she's saying this in direct response to the propaganda article released by the washington post She adds our immigration system is built on a carceral framework It's no accident that challenging how we approach both these issues are considered controversial stances They require reimagining our relationship to each other and challenging common assumptions we take for granted It's only two months into this administration and our fraught unjust immigration system will not transform in that time That's why bold reimagination is so important. DHS shouldn't exist Agencies should be reorganized ice gotta go ban for profit detention create climate refugee status and more And in terms of answering the question, what do we do because that really is the question? So liberals will say in response to um to the left Being outraged about this they'll say well, what do you propose we do? Well aoc shared this answer There is legislation that has been proposed by aoc Uh gyapal eskibar Which would right the wrongs of our cruel immigration system? And this is really long so i can't read it But the goal is to establish a just humane system So that way we don't treat immigrants as if they're inherently criminals and we especially do not treat Child immigrants unaccompanied minors as if they're criminals because regardless of how we want to frame this situation Regardless of how the biden administration spins it. We are treating these children as criminals We are caging children that has not changed and you can try to You know change the way that you conceptualize detention and immigration in order to Give biden a pass here, but if you do that, I would argue you're not being Truthful with yourself. You're not fighting past the cognitive dissonance. You're not actually being principled So at the end of the day, this is the answer and in the short term there is No, no easy questions here in terms of how we deal with unaccompanied minors. We of course admit them into the country However, how we deal with them. It does matter Being outraged at the fact that we are treating them like criminals that does matter and getting this rosy picture of the way that They're being treated here. That doesn't change things. Of course one immigrant activist Said that she kind of feels a little bit better about this because this is basically the catalac of The catalac of the detention facilities. Let me see if I could find The quote here because I think it really um, it speaks to the way that as individuals we try to um We try to convince ourselves that um Something that's bad Isn't actually that bad. So this is from rosy, uh, abu abrara I consoled myself with the fact that it was considered the catalac of migrant child centers But I don't have any hope that biden is going to make it better and that's just it Uh, you know, this person was really horrified when this detention facility when this cage Concentration camp was reopened and she tried to console herself by saying this is the catalac of migrant children centers And perhaps psychologically that helps to comfort us. But at the end of the day We're lying to ourselves if we say that this is um, this is different than the trump era because it's not If we're still treating children As criminals that is no different. There are substantive differences in approaches to immigration and that biden at this point in time doesn't seem to be reinstituting the deterrent As an approach to immigration as trump and obama was um yet But um, you know, the good news is biden still has time to turn this around and if he does actually pass immigration reform Perhaps we can change our approach But I know for damn sure that nothing's going to change if we keep giving democrats a pass For the same things that we criticize republicans for so what I call on liberals to do is be consistent And understand where leftists are coming from here in condemning this Which Is kids in cages regardless of how you want to spin it And it's morally reprehensible