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And joining us now, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Jen, welcome back to "FOX News Sunday". Great to be here, Chris. Let's start with the crisis on the border and what President Biden had to say about that this past week. On the surge of illegal immigration across the board, Mr. Biden said this: Nothing has changed. It happens every year. But your own secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, says: We are on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border then we have in the last 20 years. So, who's wrong? The DHS secretary or the president? Well, Chris, first, factually, there was an increase of about 31 percent of people coming to the border during the final months of the Trump administration. There's been about a 29 percent increase since President Biden took office. But our focus is on solutions. This past week we reopen -- or we opened I should say several facilities that will provide almost 7,000 beds so that we can move these children from the Border Patrol facilities into shelters. We've also taken steps to expedite processing at the border. The border remains closed. It is not open, we are turning away the majority of adults but what we're really talking about here is children and how we're handling that in the safest and most humane capacity. You know, you can play with percentages, but in absolute numbers, these are record numbers. There are now 18,000 unaccompanied minors in U.S. custody. There are new records being set, 500 to 800 each day. Well, Chris, our objective is to take a different approach from the last of administration. We are not going to send children under the age of 18, kids under the age of 18, back on this treacherous journey. They are fleeing challenging economic circumstances, hurricanes, prosecution in some scenarios. It does not mean that they get to stay in the United States. It means their cases are adjudicated and we want to treat them humanely, make sure they are in a safe place while their cases are adjudicated. That's what we're talking about here. The president and you have both been in pains over these first two months to talk about how to pledge that you're going to be transparent with the American people. But here's what he said in his news conference about allowing reporters in to see specifically the facilities that are being run by Customs and Border Patrol. Take a look. This is being set up and you have full access to everything once we get this thing moving. Just to be clear, how soon will that be, Mr. President? I don't know. The only way we know how bad conditions are for some 5,000 minors in his Border Patrol facilities is because of these pictures that members of Congress have released on their own.
Jen, these kids are living in these conditions now. They're not living in these conditions some indeterminate time from now when the president says everything will be fixed. So why not allow reporters and camera crews in on a pool basis safely to take pictures and show the American people what's happening in those Border Patrol facilities right now? Chris, we're absolutely committed to that, the president is committed to that, I'm committed to that, Secretary Mayorkas is committed to that. Just last week, we had a pool camera -- When? -- including -- allowing -- providing footage to FOX News just last week into the shelters. We want to provide access into the Border Patrol facilities. We are mindful of the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic. We want to keep these kids safe, keep the staff safe. But we -- we are absolutely committed to transparency and providing access to media to the Border Patrol facilities and we're working to get that done as soon as we can. But just to clarify, Jen, you allowed a camera crew in to see the HHS facilities. What we're talking about here -- Uh-huh. -- are the Border Patrol facilities, the detention cells, you know -- I -- there is a law -- let me just finish -- that they are not allowed to be there for more than 72 hours, many of them are there for ten days. At this point, in terms of allowing access to Border Patrol facilities for reporters, you are being less transparent than the Trump administration. Well, first of all, Chris, the Trump administration was turning away kids at the border, sending them back on the treacherous journey, or they were ripping kids from the arms of their parents. We're not doing that. We are committed to allowing cameras into the Border Patrol facilities, absolutely. I would also say we are committed to solutions. That's why I noted that we reopened or opened three facilities that have almost 7,000 beds to allow for processing these kids more quickly out of the Border Patrol facilities. We absolutely agree these are not places for children and our focus is on solutions and moving them as quickly as possible. We're also making sure we are processing kids more quickly at the border. Some of these kids come with a phone number and a pocket. It might be of a parent. We want to make sure we are breaking through the red tape and getting them to their parents as quickly as possible. Let me switch subjects with you. The president has come out strongly for the voting rights bill that has passed the House and is now being deliberated by the Senate. But look at some of the things that are in HR-1, the House voting rights bill. It creates public financing of congressional campaigns. It takes redistricting away from state legislatures and it opens the door to D.C. becoming a state. Now, you can argue whether these are good ideas or bad ideas, but to get bipartisan agreement, to get compromise with Republicans, would the president consider supporting taking some of those elements out and focusing just on voting rights?
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