DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus President Bidens Border Crisis

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/migrant-children-shelters-pre-pandemic-levels/

Now that the President and his crack team of experts have opened the border again, he we go, back to catch and release.

Our border towns are being flooded by untested illegals, all potential carries of Covid. They get masks when they show up here. They don't wear them on the trip here.

Thousands of children are being dropped at our door to be cared for...so many they can't be socially distanced.

Way to go Mr. President.

U.S. shelters received more than 7,000 migrant children in February, posing early border test for Biden
BY CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ

MARCH 6, 2021 / 8:00 AM / CBS NEWS


Shelters overseen by the U.S. government received more than 7,000 migrant children in February due to a marked increase in the number of unaccompanied minors entering U.S. border custody, according to preliminary government data reviewed by CBS News.

The numbers in March indicate the steady rise has continued. During the first four days of the month, more than 1,500 unaccompanied migrant minors were taken into custody, according to the data. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, the federal agency charged with housing these minors, has been receiving an average of 337 children per day, according to figures shared with Congress.

In January, the refugee office's network of shelters and foster homes received more than 4,000 unaccompanied children — a 19% increase from December.


The figure for the first full month of the Biden administration is the most migrant children the refugee office has ever received in a February. The previous record high for a February came in 2019, when the refugee office took in nearly 5,900 minors, the agency said in a statement to CBS News.

As first reported by CBS News last weekend, the refugee agency has instructed its shelters and foster homes for unaccompanied migrant children to begin using beds that had been taken offline during the coronavirus pandemic to implement social distancing measures.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized the refugee agency's shelters to return bed space back to pre-pandemic levels, citing "extraordinary circumstances," according to an internal government memo obtained by CBS News.

Immigration
U.S. shelters received more than 7,000 migrant children in February
DHS chief urges patience with "stressful challenge" along border
Biden admin scrambles to expand housing for migrant children
The facts about how the U.S. processes unaccompanied migrant children
Last year, the Office of Refugee Resettlement reduced its 13,000-bed capacity to roughly 8,000 beds. That capacity has been strained in recent weeks, with about 8,000 children currently in custody, according to data shared with Congress.

The sharp increase in arrivals of unaccompanied minors to the U.S.-Mexico border in recent weeks has posed an early logistical and political test for President Biden, whose administration has vowed to undo "inhumane" Trump-era immigration policies.

"It is obviously very, very concerning," a senior White House official told CBS News, referring to the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. "People are being exploited and told lies and coming in the absence of understanding that they are undertaking this dangerous trip and that the border is closed."

The Biden administration in late January made a decision not to resume the Trump-era practice of swiftly expelling unaccompanied minors without a court hearing under a public health authority. Instead, it has been transferring the children to the refugee office, as required by U.S. law, until they can be placed with vetted sponsors, who are typically relatives in the U.S.

Mr. Biden has instructed senior members of his team to visit the U.S.-Mexico border to assess the sharp rise in unaccompanied minors entering U.S. custody, according to a White House spokesperson who declined to say when the visit would occur, citing "safety, security, and privacy concerns."

The CDC memo on Friday that allowed shelters to return to their pre-pandemic bed capacity noted that four Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sectors were over capacity due to the uptick in crossings.

"The only available options for housing (unaccompanied children) are prolonged stays at CBP facilities operating significantly above COVID-adjusted capacities, or placement in ORR facilities operating at capacity above the current COVID-19-adjusted thresholds," the memo said. "While CDC recognizes the inherent risk posed by any congregate housing facility, CBP facilities are not appropriate for housing children."

Most facilities overseen by CBP, which has a legal obligation to transfer unaccompanied children to the U.S. refugee office within three days of taking them into custody, were built to briefly detain migrant men.

The CDC said "enhanced" coronavirus mitigation measures should be undertaken as shelters expand their bed space. These include universal masking for all staff and children 2 and older, increasing the use of rapid coronavirus testing, providing employees protective personal equipment, minimizing movement inside facilities and giving shelter workers paid leave to seek vaccination.

For months now, the refugee agency has been requiring newly arrived migrant children to test negative for the coronavirus twice and undergo quarantine.

The memo warned shelters to take "enhanced vigilance" due to the expected increase in children.

"Given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no 0% risk scenario, particularly in congregate settings," the memo said. "Therefore, ORR facilities should plan for and expect to have COVID-19 cases."

To respond to the uptick in border crossings, the U.S. refugee agency reopened a Trump-era influx holding facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, that was housing nearly 300 teenage boys this week. It has also agreed to pay for the airfare of children ready to be released to sponsors.

HHS has also asked the Pentagon to facilitate a site assessment of the U.S. Army base in Fort Lee, Virginia, to evaluate whether the military installation can house unaccompanied children, Department of Defense spokesman Chris Mitchell told CBS News.

The Biden administration is also weighing the possibility of placing HHS caseworkers inside Border Patrol facilities to expedite the process of identifying potential sponsors for unaccompanied children, Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said earlier in the week.

Jennifer Nagda, the policy director at the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, said the proposal outlined by Mayorkas would help reduce the number of children in U.S. government custody. She said the Biden administration "inherited a system unprepared to respond to the effects of the prior administration's cruel policies."

"As a result the new administration faces a difficult choice: turn away children who are alone and in danger, or house some of them in unlicensed 'influx' facilities until they can be reunited with family," Nagda told CBS News. "While the latter option is a necessity, it must be temporary."

A shelter operator who works with the federal government to house unaccompanied migrant children said the Biden administration is running out of options.

"I think they have a real problem on their hands," the shelter official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, told CBS News. "They're frankly going to be overwhelmed with these numbers"

Oh....I wonder what group of simpletons in this country has provided the "Biden, please let me in" t-shirts?

He is mucking this up pretty badly. Things like this are what makes it so very hard in deciding on who to vote for when it comes to people like myself. I never agree with either party on every issue. When it comes to immigration I walk pretty much a middle ground.

What it all boils down to is I think I'm pretty much like most voters. I have a priority list on what I consider the most important to the least important and go from there.

Such a shame that kids in cages is still a thing.

Stupid neolibs.

Not do much stupid as misguided.

A crisis created by trump. Just stop. Jesus!

I guess you can't possibly have much to say about it, so you might as well say that.

Go check the stats.. Under Obama, Illegal Immigration was slowly but surely declining. Trump comes along with his freckin lies and it caused a bunch more to cross over...

I'm not sure if Biden is handling it right, but Let's not forget to put the blame where it really belongs

I do think it's a mess right now. Here's the catch. Suddenly every issue from progressives and the right seems to already be decided based on six weeks. Both sides seem to think getting things done happens as quick as making a cup of instant coffee.

All I know is thousands are now pouring in.

Published 4 days ago

108 illegal immigrants released by Border Patrol in Texas test positive for coronavirus, officials say


Texas city says it doesn't have authority to prevent migrants who test positive from traveling elsewhere



By Greg Norman, Griff Jenkins | Fox News



More than 100 illegal immigrants released by the Border Patrol into Texas since late January have tested positive for the coronavirus following their arrival, officials in a city on the U.S.-Mexico border tell Fox News.

Felipe Romero, a spokesperson for Brownsville, said Wednesday that the 108 positives represent 6.3% of the number of total migrants who have been rapid-tested at the city’s main bus station, where they are being released by the Border Patrol. Rapid testing of the individuals began there on Jan. 25.

He added that Brownsville does not have the authority to prevent those who test positive from traveling elsewhere in the U.S. -- and are advising them to quarantine, follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and socially distance.
Rubio slams Biden border policy as 'complete, utter ridiculousness'
Rubio slams Biden border policy as 'complete, utter ridiculousness'

Senate Foreign Relations Committee member discusses worsening border crisis on 'Hannity'



Sources at the White House told Fox News on Wednesday it is aware of instances where individuals may continue to travel despite testing positive and being told to quarantine -- yet the federal guidance remains for them to isolate.

The sources said the coronavirus testing near the border is being handled by state and local governments in conjunction with non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The city of Brownsville also told Noticias Telemundo Investiga that it is advising migrants who test positive to go to NGOs and nonprofits in the area for help with finding shelter and places they can isolate themselves from others. The local county-wide positivity rate is estimated to be 13.8%.

Migrant families who tested positive and spoke to that news organization at the bus station said they were waiting to travel to places such as Maryland and New Jersey.

"On the way, we were wearing a mask all the time, gel, washing our hands," Eva Orellana, a 29-year-old from Honduras who came to the U.S. with her 3-year-old daughter, told Noticias Telemundo Investiga.

SURGE OF 13,000 CENTRAL AMERICAN MINORS TO US BORDER EXPECTED IN MAY


FOX News White House correspondent Kristin Fisher has the latest on 'Special Report'

She added that she was going to take a bus to North Carolina and had purchased tickets.

"Really, I don't feel anything," she said.

Miriam Izaguirre, a 35-year-old from Honduras who also tested positive, told Noticias Telemundo Investiga that she planned to travel by bus to Houston.

"Right now we were tested for Covid and they separated about eight of us because we were positive," she said. "We are waiting right now."


Migrants also said they were told of their positive test result by station workers, but were not provided any documents noting so, Noticias Telemundo Investiga reports. They simply were told to stand in a different waiting area from other individuals, it added.

A worker at a bus company that operates out of the station told the news organization they cannot ask passengers for proof of coronavirus test results before boarding.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/108-migrants-released-border-patrol-texas-positive-coronavirus

Nobody seems to give a damn about Covid in Texas unless it involves an immigrant.

No matter how true or not your comment might be, it is clear the federal Government doesn't care.

Socially distance. Wear your mask.


They can shove it.

As long as "they can shove it" applies to the last administration as well who obviously didn't care either. I'm am equal opportunity offender. I've explained how I think the current immigration situation is a mess. While I also understand Biden is only six weeks into his presidency. But unless he manages to drastically improve it, as it currently stands it's a huge mess.

But at the same time I fully understand that the Covid situation has been a mess from the beginning. There's plenty of blame to go around on that one.

Claiming "the government doesn't care" is an oversimplification. A record was set just the other day with 2.8 million vaccinations in a singly day. At that rate, with the vaccines already having been administered, every American could be vaccinated in 100 days.

Vaccination sites in every state have been set up by FEMA are now operational which were not before. So the claim "the federal government doesn't care" is far from accurate. The level of how much they care is debatable.

I think you were just triggered by the word immigrant.

Probably the illegal part.

I think to a great extent we are on the same side. The problem is I'm not trying to turn an immigration issue into one about Covid and make claims that Biden hasn't done a great deal to help the situation.

Some of those immigrants this 'Super Spreader' Administration is releasing may not have the United States best interests in mind.

February 5

Illegal border crossings jumping back up to 'crisis' levels: Former DHS secretary

Chad Wolf says 'dangerous situation' is result of Biden policies


By David Montanaro | Fox News



'Very dangerous situation' at border as Biden admin implements immigration agenda: Wolf

Former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf sounds the alarm after 11 Iranians are arrested crossing the border in Arizona.

Former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said on "Fox & Friends" Friday that the situation at the southern border has become "very dangerous" in recent months, as President Joe Biden moves to reverse many of the immigration enforcement measures from the Trump administration.

Wolf noted that U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 11 Iranian citizens after they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona Monday evening. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents encountered the group near San Luis – a city in the southwest corner of Arizona – around 6 p.m. near County 21st Street and the Salinity Canal.

ANGEL DAD RIPS BIDEN ADMIN'S NEW IMMIGRATION ORDERS: 'I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY CAN JUSTIFY IT'

Agents determined the group had entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico. The group was arrested and taken into custody. The CBP said the group consisted of five females and six males, all from Iran.

Biden has so far stopped construction of the wall at the southern border, moved to strengthen protections for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), set up a task force to reunify migrant families separated in the U.S., and has proposed an immigration bill to give a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. His Department of Homeland Security has also moved to place a 100-day pause on deportations, but that has been blocked due to a legal challenge from Texas

Wolf said President Obama's then-DHS secretary said 1,000 border apprehensions per day represented a "crisis level" for authorities. He said the current rate is at 3,000 to 3,500 illegal border-crossers per day.

CHAD WOLF: "The situation on the border right now is very dangerous. CBP is facing a little over 3,000 and in some cases, 3,500 individuals coming across the border illegally every day. And if we go back to the previous DHS secretary under Obama, he said a thousand a day is a very bad day for DHS and at crisis level. We are three times that at the moment.

It's very concerning the number of things that are occurring down there. And, again, I think it's a direct result of some of the things that we have heard this administration do. Sending a signal to those south of the border, those wanting to cross illegally, to the cartels, the smugglers and the traffickers. Now is the time to send those individuals across the border.


The specific Iranians, we call those special interest aliens, those are individuals from countries that are of concern and so any time you see a rise in the number of those types of individuals at the southwest border, it's also equally as concerning. What we know is that they often try to blend in to a flow that's coming across that border every day."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/illegal...r-dhs-secretary

The states decisions to stop all Covid protocol doesn't have The United states best interests in mind either but I don't hear a peep from you about that. As expected.

I can't say I totally disagree, but business can still mandate masks. A business is inside it's rights to do so.

But that aside, it's two different issues.

The illegals are flooding in and the administration is standing there with thumbs up butt, sending down official to watch.

It is a bad look. It looks like we don't care about the health and safety of our citizens more than the health and safety of illegals.

Now we have Iranians just waltzing in....what can go wrong with that?

And a few businesses are now being harassed over their decision to keep requiring masks.

People threaten to call ICE on Texas Mexican restaurant that kept mask rule, it says

By Dawson White
March 07, 2021 12:48 PM

A Mexican restaurant in Houston says it’s been getting some “horrific” threats after announcing it was keeping its mask requirement as Texas reopens.

Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order lifting the statewide mask mandate and allowing businesses and facilities to operate at 100% capacity. The rollbacks go into effect March 10.

After Picos announced it would still require masks for diners, co-owner Monica Richards said she started receiving some disturbing messages and calls from people threatening to report the Picos staff to Immigration and Customs and Enforcement, The Houston Chronicle reported.

They also said the staff’s green cards and paperwork needed to be examined, the newspaper reported.

“It was just horrific,” Richards told The Washington Post. “People don’t understand unless you’re in our business what it felt like, how hard it was to go through everything we went through during COVID. For people to be negative toward us for trying to remain safe, so that this doesn’t continue to happen, just makes zero sense to us.”

She told the Chronicle that Picos has “always been by the book” and that she never imagined people would “go that far.”

Picos has called Houston home for nearly 40 years. It’s keeping capacity at no more than 75% and requiring customers to wear masks when they’re not eating or drinking, the Chronicle reported.

“Being Hispanic, and going through that immigration process, and finally receiving your papers, and then for somebody to start threatening you after you’ve been through all that, that’s crazy,” Richards said. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

Cantina Barba, another Houston Mexican restaurant, has received similar threats and told the Post its staff was bullied when the statewide mask mandate was still in effect.

“This has been ongoing through COVID,” co-owner Steven O’Sullivan told the newspaper. “We’ve had threats of calling ICE. I had one guy just stand there and berate one of my bartenders and tell her ‘you’re an absolute idiot, you don’t know what you’re doing. If you think these masks are going to save your life, you’re stupid.’ ... Nobody wants to deal with that stuff.”

The Texas Restaurant Association has urged restaurants to keep mask requirements for workers and encourage patrons to don masks when they’re not at their tables.

When Abbott announced the state was dropping its mask requirement, he said businesses still have a right to determine their own safety protocols.

“If businesses want to limit capacity or implement additional safety protocols, they have the right to do so,” he said, KHOU reported.

But it wasn’t long before many took to social media claiming that asking patrons to leave for not wearing masks is illegal. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo dispelled that notion last week.

“Private businesses enjoy property rights and may require folks to wear a mask,” he wrote on Twitter. “Please respect their property rights. If you decline to wear a mask and are asked to leave and refuse, you may be committing the offense of criminal trespass.”

Acevedo said businesses can call police for help if someone won’t leave the store and added that those who don’t like a business’ policy can go elsewhere, KHOU reported.

Many big companies with stores in Texas have said they’ll still require customers to wear masks, including Walmart, Target, CVS and Kroger.

And McDonald’s said last week that it will continue to keep its dining rooms closed to customers.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article249761688.html

Saw there was a knock down drag out at bed bath and beyond today over a no mask situation. smh

All that is a bunch of crap, and I mean that is a way that agrees with you.

As one who wants to continue to wear a mask for a while longer, I will. I also have the right to do so.

Even though I don't drink anymore, my wife and I prefer to sit at the bar to eat. If we go in and there aren't chairs missing and ample space between groups, we don't.

That is the choice we make. When the magic date might be, who knows, though it will probably be sooner than later. My thinking is maybe a month after we have both received our 2nd dose which will be around the 20th of the month.

If getting the vaccine doesn't do any good, what's the point?

Hahaha, yes... illegal aliens entering the country was never a problem before the Trump admin.

TDS, indeed.

. TDS indeed bro. Least we forget. It was trump who made it a policy to separate children from their families. So yeah we can stop reaching for straws just to make Biden look bad.

That's actually not true, either. The policy was in place before Trump, but the issue blew up when Trump introduced his zero tolerance policy on the matter and had everyone prosecuted. The separation policy was in place prior as a measure to protect children from going to a holding area where they'd be surrounded by criminals (people that were accused of of crimes in addition to entering the country illegally).

Texas is well on its way to becoming Florida 2.0

TDS is russian for "I love fascism".

Meth Heads and cowboys, what could go wrong?

PS tried to say that the policy of separating kids (and the illegal immigration problem as a whole) was created by Trump.


Whatever it is, there's a syndrome that can be attributed to believing nonsense like that.

I'm not sure if you don't get it or don't want to get it. When the state has a mandate to wear a mask, business owners have a fall back to avoid disputes. They can simply tell their patrons that it's the law and they have no say in the matter.

Once your government gives you permission not to wear a mask, it removes that buffer they previously had. Now you and I both know that a business has a right to set their own rules and reserve the right not to serve someone who will not follow their guidelines. But let's not pretend that there aren't a lot of people out their that consider a business enforcing a mask mandate as infringing on their freedoms.

If you don't believe that incidents between citizens and business owners will drastically increase I think you're seriously underestimating the situation. And secondly, when a business can use state law as a buffer, there isn't an appearance they are taking a side. Both those who feel wearing a mask is fine and those who don't wish to wear a mask understand a business must follow the law. Now it makes customers pick a side on where they wish to do business based on who is and who isn't enforcing a mask mandate.

Texas businesses must decide whether to require face masks. Some worry they could lose customers either way.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/03/texas-businesses-mask-mandate/

Abbott just put a huge target on business no matter which way they choose to go by eliminating common sense guidelines and there's really no excuses anyone can come up with that says otherwise.

We just disagree.

That's cool. We will be able to see how the chips fall over the next few weeks. I know there are a lot of Texas business owners who are concerned about it.

True. I also think over the next few weeks we will see other states do the same.

There has to be a start to opening back up. People might disagree on when but it is going to happen.

Is this too soon? Maybe is probably the most accurate answer.

I think we disagree on what "a start" is. When you open up everything at 100% and do away with a mask mandate, I don't consider that, "a start".

I consider it doing pretty much the same thing that started the third wave over the holidays. It's like they're saying, "We know what works to help bring cases down but we're going to ignore ALL of that when we're only a few months away from having most people vaccinated".

This isn't going to end well. I'm all for easing restrictions as cases go down. What I'm not for is abandoning "every" safe guard on the state level all at once with cases still this high.

I would just like to remind you that the average daily covid cases right now are still higher than October of last year. We see how that turned out when people soon after started traveling and gathering for the holidays. But places like Texas and Mississippi are having a problem doing the math on that one.

maybe Texas is taking their lead from the Feds who are releasing infected illegals in to their state? If it's ok to do that, it much be all clear.

That is 90% joke, so don't get all bent out of shape.

Like I said, I wouldn't do it at this point, but, who am I?

Someone who obviously possesses more common sense than Greg Abbott.

Start in Ohio, work it around to 2/3rds of state legislatures, a constitutional amendment of the United States constitution.

All kids in cages, waiting on decisions on immigration status,
all daca and dreamer folks, anyone granted amnesty, or in limbo status,

must be housed or moved to the same zip code as the U.S. capital meets.
Any leftovers must be moved to Martha's Vineyard, or upstate Massachusetts' and Connecticutts' zip codes.

Greyhound, Texas Governor React to Biden Administration’s Open Border Plan




The president CEO of Greyhound bus company and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are pushing back against President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for their open border policies, including allowing illegal aliens inside the country without testing individuals for the coronavirus.

“Our top priority is the safety of our employees and passengers,” Greyhound CEO David Leach wrote in a letter sent to DHS. “We need assurance that any detainees released by ICE have proof of a negative COVID-19 test, similar to the proof required for international airline passengers who arrive at U.S. ports of entry.”

“Greyhound already asks our customers to stay home and not travel if they are not feeling well or have been diagnosed with COVID,” the letter said. “However, migrants simply do not have that choice unless the government or their sponsors house them while they quarantine.”

“Therefore, it is critical to public safety that ICE provide 100 percent assurance that no one released that can be reasonably expected to ride a Greyhound bus be infected with COVID-19 (or mixed with other potential passengers that have tested negative),” Leach said in the letter.

The NBC affiliate in El Paso, Texas, reported on the Texas governor’s reaction to the Biden administration’s policies, which reverse the strengthening of the border and large reduction in illegal border crossings under former President Donald Trump:

News of the letter also comes on a day of criticisms being traded between Austin and Washington, DC, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweets that the testing of released migrants is a federal responsibility.

The NBC report continued:

Meanwhile, Mayorkas earlier this week told a White House press briefing that other than those asylum-seekers released from the remain-in-Mexico program, no migrants were being released into the country due to Title 42 border restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Leach also announced that he has requested additional financial aid from the federal government if the company is expected to transport thousands of illegal aliens around the country.

“We simply do not have buses and drivers ready to meet surges in demand without emergency funding,” Leach said in the NBC report. “In order to properly serve immigrants coming into the southern border and traveling to their sponsor destination, Greyhound will be operating one-way moves throughout the country and in order to get the resources back (buses and drivers) to the border to continue operations, Greyhound needs funding assistance to cover the costs of repositioning buses and drivers from other parts of the country to wherever they may be needed.”

Greg Abbott's Twitter response is shown inside the link.


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/...en-border-plan/

I wouldn't even want that. Drop them off 10 feet on the other side of the Rio with 2 days of food and water, $40 and tell them to walk home. That is probably more than when they started.