White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday was forced to again fend off questions about how the Biden administration’s detention camps for child immigrants differ from those that Democrats including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris decried during the Trump administration.
Psaki was asked how she felt about the widely adopted term “kids in containers” — as opposed to the Trump-era Democratic accusation of “kids in cages” — for the Biden administration centers while saying she couldn’t comment on progressive Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rebuking the reopening of the detention facilities.
“I think the difficulty is, I haven’t seen the full context of the quote or interview — of the tweet that was, that she shared,” Psaki said of the New York Democrat’s criticism.
Ocasio-Cortez, an influential figure among the Democratic Party’s left wing, said that the Biden administration was wrong to reopen a detention center in Carrizo Springs, Texas, along with a similar center in Homestead, Fla., that Vice President Kamala Harris protested in 2019 when it was managed by the Trump administration.
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Tuesday: “This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay – no matter the administration or party.”
AOC added: “It’s only 2 mos into this admin & our fraught, unjust immigration system will not transform in that time. That’s why bold reimagination is so impt. DHS shouldn’t exist, agencies should be reorganized, ICE gotta go, ban for-profit detention, create climate refugee status & more.”
Source: White House defends ‘kids in containers’ as AOC cites hypocrisy
