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The Texas governor criticizes Biden for sending baby formula to border detainees. Actually, that's what the law requires.

2022-05-17T03:32:23.747Z


A 1997 legal agreement requires border agents to provide food and water, among other things, to detained minors, which can mean giving them infant formula. If it didn't, the Biden administration would be breaking the law.


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By 

Madison Czopek

-

PolitiFact

As frightened parents grapple with the nation's continuing shortage of baby formula, some politicians are criticizing the Biden Administration, claiming it is prioritizing immigrant children apprehended at the border over American families.

The narrative took hold after Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Florida, posted on Twitter a photo comparison of a scene on the southern border and another in a supermarket in the United States.

"First photo is from this morning at the Ursula Processing Center at the US Border. Shelves and pallets full of baby formula," Cammack tweeted on May 11.

“The second is from a shelf here at home.

The formula is scarce.

This is what America looks like."

A border patrol agent in Texas sent him the photo, Cammack said.

She claimed that the agent told her that her facility had been receiving containers full of formula intended for immigrants who crossed into the US illegally.

Before long, other Republicans and media outlets like Fox News picked up the story.

In a joint statement on May 12, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, and National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd criticized the policies of President Joe Biden.

“While mothers and fathers stare in terror at empty grocery store shelves, the Biden Administration is pleased to provide baby formula to illegal immigrants crossing our southern border,” the statement read.

“This is yet another in a long list of reckless and out-of-touch priorities from the Biden Administration when it comes to securing our border and protecting Americans.”

PolitiFact was unable to independently verify the authenticity of Cammack's photo, and a US Customs and Border Protection spokesperson would not comment.

It's also unclear when this formula was shipped, how long it's been there, or how many people need it.

They announce the importation of baby formula from other countries due to the shortage in the US.

May 16, 202201:52

But we see no reason to doubt that the photo is real;

what is missing in this controversy is context.

Allen Orr, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said detention centers regularly stockpile supplies.

"The formula is there because it's always there," Orr said.

Some states are struggling less with formula shortages than others, he said.

“Are they taking it too?

Or is it just there?

Furthermore,

the Biden Administration would be breaking the law if it did not have a supply of formula

and other food for people detained in government facilities.

Flores Settlement Requirements for Children in Custody

At the heart of this issue is the 1997 Flores agreement, an agreement that sets rules for when U.S. immigration officials can detain unaccompanied minors, how those minors must be treated, and how and when they must be released from custody. federal custody.

The agreement required officials to release the children from detention without delay to a parent or legal guardian, adult relative or licensed juvenile program willing to accept custody.

A minor may be temporarily detained if it is deemed necessary for the child's safety or to ensure the child's timely appearance in immigration court, according to the agreement.

Since 1997, additional rulings by federal judges have interpreted the Flores agreement to mean that "all detained minors, whether or not accompanied by their parents, may not be held for more than 20 days," according to the Center for Immigration Studies. that favors the reduction of immigration.

FDA to announce plan to counter baby formula shortage

May 16, 202200:49

However, when officials determine that a child needs to be detained, the Flores agreement requires that minors be held "in facilities that are safe and sanitary."

The facility must provide food and drinking water, among other requirements.

For babies, that means officials must provide baby formula.

A 2015 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) document on detention standards recognized this: “Food must be appropriate for the age and abilities of detainees at risk (such as formula and baby food).

A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson provided a statement to PolitiFact saying the agency follows regulations to make sure all migrants have their basic needs met.

The spokesperson did not respond to specific questions about when or where the baby formula in Cammack's photograph was purchased and stored.

Orr said the government is morally and legally obligated to feed detained children, even during a formula shortage.

He made reference to both the Flores agreement and international human rights commitments.

“Anyone in a detention center gets food,” he said.

A breast milk bank in Colorado, on May 13, 2022. David Zalubowski / AP

Trump and the Flores deal

It is worth mentioning that former President Donald Trump also followed the rules of the Flores agreement.

Trump fought to enact a rule that would have allowed indefinite detention of migrant children, effectively ending the Flores deal, but his effort was unsuccessful and the administration followed Flores' requirements, the Washington Post reported.

In a 2020 report on how the Trump administration struggled to manage the influx of migrants at the border in 2019, Department of Homeland Security officials said they "observed that all Border Patrol stations had food, snacks, juice and formula available for children”.

More than twice as many migrants have already died in this area of ​​the border than in all of last year

May 13, 202202:01

We reached out to Cammack and Abbott for comment and did not receive a response at the time of publication.

our verdict

In a statement, Abbott said the Biden administration's decision to send baby formula to the border "is yet another in a long list of reckless and out-of-touch priorities" at the border.

An unverified photo suggests the Biden Administration has shelves full of baby formula to feed babies at processing centers near the border amid a nationwide formula shortage.

What is missing from claims like Abbott's is that the Biden Administration's actions are consistent with what previous presidents have done to comply with a federal agreement governing the detention of immigrant children.

The shortage of baby formula continues to stress many American families, but it does not relieve the government of its legal responsibility to provide adequate care and nutrition to the children in its custody.

The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that give a different impression.

We rate it as mostly false.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-05-17

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