Psaki dodges on whether there’s a crisis at the border

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Jen Psaki becoming the 'deputy president' in Biden administration: Kurtz

White House press secretary Jen Psaki has become the face of the Biden administration as the president avoids questions from reporters, 'MediaBuzz' host Howard Kurtz says.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday wouldn’t say whether there was a crisis at the southern border amid a recent influx of undocumented immigrants.

"Do you believe that you have a crisis at the border? And is the government not acting as if you had a crisis at the border?" a reporter asked in Psaki’s daily briefing. 

"I don't think I'm going to put new labels on it from here or from the podium, but it is a priority of the administration. It's a priority of our secretary of homeland security and certainly of the president who's kept abreast of the developments," the press secretary replied. 

"Certainly, you know, having unaccompanied minors travel across the border ... so many that we are looking, we had to open a new facility, it is something that we take incredibly seriously. And we are eager to, of course, address humanely and with the focus of keeping them safe," Psaki said. 

Psaki days ago warned Latin American immigrants from coming to the U.S. right now. 

"Parents should not be sending their kids north right now?" one reporter asked Psaki Tuesday.

"Absolutely not. This is not the time to come -- we've not had the time to put in place an immigration system, an immigration policy," she replied. 

PSAKI'S MESSAGE TO LATIN AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS: NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO COME TO THE US 

"We don’t have the processing we need at the border, obviously we're continuing to struggle with facilities to ensure that we're abiding by Covid protocols," Psaki continued. 

Biden has perhaps moved fastest on immigration, where he has already taken a slew of measures to stamp out Trump-era policies. He has stopped the construction of the wall at the southern border, ended the travel bans and taken steps to loosen asylum policies such as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). MPP, known as "Remain in Mexico," was a policy implemented and expanded in 2019 that kept migrants in Mexico as they awaited their immigration hearing.

Biden also ended Trump’s national emergency declaration on the southern border, although 3,600 troops will remain in place until the end of the fiscal year. In addition, he ended Trump’s freeze on new visas after skyrocketed unemployment rates from the coronavirus pandemic.

BIDEN TELLS MEXICAN PRESIDENT HE WILL END TRUMP'S 'DRACONIAN' IMMIGRATION POLICIES 

Amid an influx of child migrants arriving at the border alone, the Biden administration reopened a Trump-era child migrant facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas to house an additional 700 teenagers, which drew backlash from progressives.

And though Biden has not yet nominated a head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), ICE is entering crisis mode.

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"We need to prepare for border surges now," Tim Perry, ICE’s new chief of staff, wrote in a Feb. 12 email, according to The Washington Post.  "We need to begin making changes immediately."