A Republican senator said he was told to delete photos that he took at Border Patrol facilities in Texas.
Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of the Republican Senate leadership, that officials told GOP senators to delete pictures they captured at various facilities.
“This is both a humanitarian crisis and a national security crisis,” Barrasso said. “You may have seen the numbers today are the highest in history of unaccompanied minors currently in captivity. They are crammed in like sardines. And this is what the Biden administration is trying to hide from the American public.”
He continued: “We were told to delete the pictures. No one did. You’ve seen the video coming out of all of these kids crammed together under the foil blankets, huddling together.” The senator did not say who told him to delete the pictures; The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and White House has faced criticism from members of the media, including an award-winning Getty photographer, about a lack of access to border facilities.
Last week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) posted a video from within a Border Patrol facility in Donna, Texas, saying that a Biden administration staffer told him not to film unaccompanied children who were being held in cramped conditions inside makeshift tent-like structures.
“Please give dignity to the people. Please give dignity to the people. … Please respect the people, the rules,” the alleged staffer told Cruz while blocking the camera with her face, according to footage.
“I understand that you were instructed,” Cruz ultimately said in response to the woman. “I respect them, and I want to fix this situation, and the administration that you work for is responsible for these conditions.”
As a result of the lack of media access and claims from Cruz and Barrasso, some lawmakers have opted to leak photos from inside facilities. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) sent photos of children being housed in cramped quarters with aluminum blankets.
Barrasso also said that testing for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, is done after the children leave Border Patrol facilities. He argued that such a procedure does not prevent the virus from spreading.
“They do the instant test. And then those that have been tested positive are just kind of moved to one side of the courtyard, those negative to the other of this courtyard,” Barrasso told Fox. “They’ve all been exposed, and then they’re sent all across the country. You know, that is the real tragedy of this. And we’re not sure what variant of the of the coronavirus they’re carrying. They are carrying it, though, all around America.”
Read the original article from The Epoch Times.
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