Media fights restrictions on access to child detention centers

NEW YORK (AP) – Children at the center of President Donald Trump's national debate on immigration policy have been heard but rarely seen.

The news organizations say they are pushing daily Trump administration restrictions on access to facilities where children are separated from their parents. Government donations are few, and there have been disputes in some of the rare cases where there is a sense of what is happening at the border.

"It's not enough for the government to provide organized footage," said Noah Oppenheim, president of NBC News. "The public expects and demands and has the right to see a verified image of what is happening inside these detention centers and how this policy is conducted on their behalf."

After the reporters were allowed to visit a Texas facility without cameras, the administration objected to the descriptions of the fenced fences as cages. A photograph of a crying Honduran child whose mother was stopped from crossing into the United States has become a symbol for many of the politics of separation since inverted, largely because other images were limited. The government revealed Friday that the daughter and her mother were detained together.

Calls to access face a long tradition of not allowing government-supported children's photographs that the federal government has applied to immigrant children. The Federal Department of Health and Social Services cites a 2015 policy that preceded Trump's presidency by banning cameras, interviews with children or unannounced two-week tours. Their age leaves children vulnerable to abuse, HHS said.

If the government wants to negotiate, there are ways to set ground rules to protect the interests of both parties. For example, journalists are often integrated into military forces with the promise of not revealing strategy or troop movements that could put people at risk. CBS News is ready to negotiate, although standards editor Al Ortiz said Monday that CBS had published a story that showed that some immigrant children were being transported to the outside of campgrounds with visible faces .

"Otherwise we would have a faceless story," said Ortiz.

From the point of view of the administration, the rule reduces the heat, say the communication experts. The audio obtained by ProPublica from children who were crying in a federal facility was influential before Trump changed his policy – even though there were no visuals.

"In general, your goal is to demystify things, because every imagination can be unleashed if you allow it," said Joel Johnson, who worked at Clinton White House and Capitol Hill and is now CEO of Glover Park Group. . includes crisis counseling. "The fundamental question is whether what is behind the curtain is worse than people imagine, if it is, you do not let people behind the curtain."

The government's communications officials want to control the message, and "sticking a camera in the face of toddlers is not a way to control the message," said Erin Pelton, who worked at the White House and the United Nations United. Mercury closes.

On Monday, HHS officials led reporters to Tornillo, Texas, as part of a government-organized tents tour for children. MSNBC images showed the tents behind large fences with no visible faces. The network has released a video provided by the government showing some of the housing, labeling it as such.

Mark Weber, spokesman for the agency, told Fox News Channel that it was an opportunity to let the public know that children were taken care of.

"We will not let them die in the desert," he said.

HHS has published a series of similar photos and videos of various installations. There are pictures of stacked laptops, beds with stuffed animals on the pillow, pictures of superheroes on the wall, breakfasts with scrambled eggs and cereals. The children are seen in neat lines and in what looks like clothes issued by the government, but no face is seen. Children are seen playing football, for example, but camera shots come from the back or focus on the waist.

The television network showed a portion of the video provided by the government in limited quantities, but tagged to allow viewers to know that the material was not collected independently. Executives say that they are reluctantly using information but that viewers would have no idea what is going on inside.

"If you tell the viewer," It comes from the government, "I think the viewer is smart enough to say," I wonder what else is there, and I wonder what we do not know. "We have not seen," said Libby Leist of NBC's "Today" show.

The Associated Press agency's policy is not to release video material without other elements of history, given the sterile representation provided by the government, said spokeswoman Lauren Easton. Due to the relevance of the publication, some static images issued by the government were sent through the access point, the source being clearly explained to the users of the service.

The New York Times does not use the images provided by the government because independent press photographers do not have the right to enter it. While the paper has already distributed documents if these are worthy of interest, former President Barack Obama and his aides the raid that killed Osama bin Laden succeeded, for example – he does not want create precedent.

CBS's Ortiz said the documents also raise questions, noting that the children seen are boys. "There are no pictures of girls," he said. "Where are they?"

Because of the restrictions, reporters are working harder than ever to find other documents, like ProPublica did with its audio. Johnson believes that the refusal strategy of access is doomed to failure.

Pelton was in agreement. "It is inevitable that we will see more of what is happening and the more we see the images, the more it will be disturbing for the public," she said.