“This development is unprecedented in modern history.”
As Ed pointed out this morning, we finally have some photos of the kids being held in CBP detention centers. Even Democratic Senators are saying he Biden administration needs to do better about allowing journalists access to these locations. This afternoon the Washington Post published a piece by photojournalist John Moore. Moore has covered border patrol activities during the last four administrations but suddenly under the Biden administration his only option to cover what is happening comes from the Mexican side of the border: For the past four presidential administrations, I have accompanied U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and photographed their encounters with migrants as they enforced immigration policy. No longer. Last week, when I documented migrant detentions in El Paso, I had to do so from the Mexican side of the border, taking long-range shots. Until now, journalists haven’t had to stand in another country to cover what is happening in the United States. Most asylum seekers cross the Rio Grande into South Texas on land controlled by federal agents. For decades, the U.S. government has let journalists accompany Border Patrol agents and other officials as they surveil the land. But since the change in administration, those agents have been physically blocking journalists from the riverbank.
