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Video shot inside a Texas migrant facility shows people crammed into plastic-covered cubes, as border crossings increase and COVID-19 cases soar.
The video, obtained by Fox News, shows a Donna, Texas installation filled with people wearing masks lying shoulder to shoulder on small rugs and cots.
Some use aluminum covers. Others sit nearby in benches.
There is little furniture or remote space in the sections, which have mounted TVs. Each “pod” is covered with draped plastic.
Outside of closed areas, people sit next to each other in rows – seemingly on the floor appearing to be waiting for some type of treatment or treatment.
The busy facility is a stark contrast to images released by DHS in the spring which showed the mostly empty pods in what appears to be the same facility.
Donna’s facility has been expanded to speed up the processing of migrants, although there are still more than 5,300 people in detention, according to Fox, who cited a border patrol source.
US customs and border protection reportedly recovered 19,000 unaccompanied children at the border with Mexico last month alone. As of Wednesday, more than 830 unaccompanied children were reportedly arrested by authorities.
Under current federal policy, children in custody must be transferred to Department of Health and Human Services care within three days and then tested for coronavirus before further treatment.
The children are then handed over to their parents or relatives in the United States.
Republicans took to the images to denigrate the administration with Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s #BidenBorderCrisis hashtag.
“The children are crammed into cages and Joe Biden doesn’t care” he said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who clashed with Biden over the governor’s anti-restriction approach, attacked the president this week and sought to link the influx of migrants to the increase in cases virus, although experts said there was no evidence to support a link.
“This is a guy who ran for president saying he was going to, I quote, stop the virus and what did he do?” he said. “He imported more viruses from all over the world by having a wide open southern border.”
“Who knows what new variants are out there, but I can tell whatever variants are around the world, they’re crossing this southern border,” DeSantis said. “And so he’s not stopping the virus he’s helping to ease in our country.”
Donna’s installation became a concern in March, when images surfaced showing overcrowded conditions during a media blackout at detention centers. This led White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki to say that border detention centers are “not places for children.”
When Associated Press reporters later visited the facility, it was reported to have more than 4,100 people. The facility was said to have a capacity of 250 people.
The Biden administration had planned to move $ 860 million in COVID relief funds to pay for pandemic-related costs for migrant children.
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