DHS secretary clashes with Fox host over press access at border facilities

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas clashed with Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday over press access to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities where migrant children are housed before being transferred to Health and Human Services (HHS) housing.

During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Wallace asked Mayorkas why reporters have not get gained access to CBP facilities, in particular during his recent trip to the border with a congressional delegation.

Mayorkas responded by citing concerns related to COVID-19, adding that the administration is “working on providing footage” of CBP facilities for news organizations.

Wallace countered that the more than yearlong pandemic amounted to an “excuse” for not allowing reporters inside and stated that there had to be a safe way for a press pool reporter and camera crew to be granted access.

“We’re working on providing access so that individuals can see what conditions inside a Border Patrol facility are like,” Mayorkas told Wallace.

“Certainly, reporters can see Health and Human Services shelters where children are housed for longer periods of time,” he added.

Fox News’ Chris Wallace challenges DHS Sec. Mayorkas over Biden’s media blackout on the border crisis despite his ‘transparency’ pledge: “Why did you refuse to allow reporters to see the conditions?” pic.twitter.com/0TGxcShCLS

— TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) March 21, 2021

The secretary’s comments were mocked later on the show by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who knocked Mayorkas for appearing, albeit virtually, on Wallace’s program.

“It’s rich that Secretary Mayorkas won’t let press travel with him … but he will come on your show,” Cotton said.

Mayorkas faced similar questions during an interview Sunday on “Meet the Press,” and called the assertion that Border Patrol agents were under a gag order “unequivocally false.”

“Let’s be clear here. We are in the midst of a pandemic. We are, because of the extraordinary leadership of the president, climbing out of it more rapidly than ever before. But we are still in the midst of the pandemic,” he said on NBC.

“Border Patrol agents are focused on operations, on securing the border, on addressing the needs of vulnerable children. We are not focused on ride-alongs right now,” Mayorkas added.

Calls for the press to be allowed to see conditions inside facilities housing migrant children have grown in recent weeks amid a surge of unaccompanied minors arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.

CBS News reported Saturday that the number of minors being housed by the U.S. after arriving at the border has surpassed 15,000, including roughly 5,000 being housed in a temporary tent facility operated by CBP along the border.

Updated at 4:35 p.m.