White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday she would not confirm reports that record numbers of unaccompanied minors were flooding the United States-Mexico border, and instructed reporters to follow up with the Department of Homeland Security.
Psaki pushed back on repeated questions about the border crisis, saying that DHS would have to confirm the numbers. (RELATED: Number Of Minor Detainees At Southern Border Has Tripled Over Last Two Weeks)
“I’m not going to confirm numbers from here,” the press secretary said.
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Psaki did say that the number of children coming across the border was overwhelming the United States’ capacity to manage the influx.
CBS’ Nancy Cordes said there were reports that the number of unaccompanied migrant children at the border tripled within just the last two weeks.
“Why won’t you confirm that number?” Cordes pushed back, referencing the 3,200 children who were reportedly detained at the border. “That’s a very important number.”
“There is an increase [and] there are more children coming across the border than we have facilities for at this point in time,” Psaki said.
“I’m just suggesting that you talk to [DHS] about them about specifics,” Psaki said.
Then, Cordes informed her that DHS had not been willing to confirm the number either.
“Well, I would encourage you to go back to them and ask them again, we’re not going to confirm them from the White House. It’s not our program.”