?

?

?

So much talk about a Congress metal detector –

how ’bout some citizen protection from that Mental Fake President Defector?

MBTYAYL 🙂

Then-President Donald Trump speaks to the media after signing a bill for border funding in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2019. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Donald Trump

By Jack Phillips April 13, 2021 Updated: April 13, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Former President Donald Trump reacted to White House plans to create a commission that would, among other proposals, study potentially expanding the Supreme Court.

Trump said that because the high court did not hear election-related cases after Nov. 3, the justices on the Supreme Court will “get what they deserve” if it is expanded.

Of the Supreme Court, “Now there is a very good chance they will be diluted (and moved throughout the court system so that they can see how the lower courts work), with many new Justices added to the Court, far more than has been reported. There is also a good chance that they will be term-limited,” Trump said, as he made claims of election fraud during the Nov. 3 election.

“Our politically correct Supreme Court will get what they deserve—an unconstitutionally elected group of Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country,” he added in his statement.

Last week, the White House released a statement saying President Joe Biden would create a commission that would look into possibly expanding—or “packing”—the Supreme Court and term limits for justices. The commission is headed by two former Obama administration officials.

“The Commission’s purpose is to provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform, including an appraisal of the merits and legality of particular reform proposals,” said the White House. “The topics it will examine include the genesis of the reform debate; the Court’s role in the Constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court; the membership and size of the Court; and the Court’s case selection, rules, and practices.”

However, Justice Stephen Breyer, a member of the liberal wing of the court, warned that “packing” the court is an unwise move because it will create the impression that the Supreme Court would be a politically motivated entity, which will further erode trust in U.S. institutions.

“If the public sees judges as politicians in robes, its confidence in the courts and in the rule of law can only diminish, diminishing the court’s power, including its power to act as a check on other branches,” he said at a speech to Harvard University students.

As a result of Breyer’s comments, left-wing activist groups began calling on the 82-year-old justice to retire.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki rebuffed those calls, saying Biden will not push him to step down.

“He believes that’s a decision Justice Breyer will make when he decides it’s time to no longer serve on the Supreme Court,” Psaki told reporters on April 10.

A health worker loads syringes with the vaccine on the first day of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine being made available to residents at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 11, 2021. (Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo) Vaccines & Safety

By Tom Ozimek April 13, 2021 Updated: April 13, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

California’s Orange County plans to launch a pilot program for digital CCP virus vaccine and testing passports, according to health officials.

The vaccine and testing credentialing arrangement will be rolled out sometime in April, Orange County Health Care Agency officials said on Twitter.

“The Digital Passport enables individuals to participate safely and with peace of mind in activities that involve interactions with other people, including travel, attractions, conferences/meetings, concerts, sports, school and more,” officials added.

While details are scant about how the digital vaccine passport would work, the Orange County health agency’s director and health officer, Dr. Clayton Chau, told the O.C. Register that the county’s existing Othena vaccine scheduling app could be modified to include a credentialing feature.

The Othena app is being used to schedule vaccine appointments at the county’s mass inoculation sites, including at Disneyland.

Chau also told the outlet that printed cards could be issued for use by people who don’t use smartphones.

California Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón said last week that there are currently no plans to create a state-level vaccination passport system, although health officials are looking into formulating standards and guidelines around the use of such credentials, KTLA reported.

Aragón said that if federal authorities “don’t move fast enough” with developing such guidelines, “we will come up with technical standards that will be expected—really focusing on making sure that privacy is protected and that equity is protected.”

It comes amid controversy over vaccine passport-style systems, which have been proposed in some countries, and as some U.S. states and regions have either considered their adoption or moved forward with their deployment.

Hawaii Gov. David Ige’s latest emergency proclamation includes a plan for vaccine passports that would allow travelers to avoid quarantine and COVID-19 testing. While there is no timeline for its adoption and it still needs approval by the director of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Lt. Gov. Josh Green told Hawaii News Now that the plan is to launch a pilot for inter-island travel by May 1.

New York state has also rolled out its “Excelsior Pass” system that would require people to show that they have been vaccinated when trying to enter certain events and locations.

Vaccine passports have been criticized by civil liberties groups, who say they would potentially violate Americans’ privacy rights while denying key services to people who are not vaccinated.

The Biden administration has said that it would not develop a federal vaccine passport system, but that it would come up with guidelines around their use and leave development to the private sector and local authorities.

“The government is not now, nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential. There will be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at the White House last week.

Psaki last month responded to reports that the administration was working with private firms to create a passport system, saying the administration would only provide guidance.

“Our interest is very simple from the federal government, which is Americans’ privacy and rights should be protected so that these systems are not used against people unfairly,” Psaki clarified Tuesday. She again said the government would provide guidance on privacy concerns related to vaccines.

Several governors, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, both Republicans, have issued executive orders barring the use of vaccine passports.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) has also introduced legislation that would ban federal agencies from future issuance of any standardized documentation that could be used to certify COVID-19 vaccination status to third parties, like airlines or restaurants.

Biggs’s proposed bill, called the No Vaccine Passports Act (pdf), would also prohibit proof of COVID-19 vaccination from being a requirement to access federal or congressional property and services, Biggs’s office said in a statement.

“My private health care decisions—and yours—are nobody else’s business,” Biggs said. “Vaccine passports will not help our nation recover from COVID-19, instead, they will simply impose more Big Brother surveillance on our society.”

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By Mark Truppner Published Apr 13, 2021 06:09 am Updated Apr 13, 2021 06:24 am

US Capitol View Photo

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered remarks Monday on the Senate floor, regarding upcoming legislative priorities.

McConnell was Tuesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”. Here are his words:

“The Senate returns today from a state work period. We got to meet with constituents in our home states and hear firsthand about their most pressing concerns.

Unfortunately, back here in Washington, Democrats continued to roll out new reasons for the American people to worry.

The week before last, the Biden Administration unveiled their latest misleadingly-titled legislation. This time, under the supposed veil of ‘infrastructure’, the White House has lumped together a motley assortment of the Left’s priciest priorities.

This plan would impose the biggest tax hikes in a generation when workers need an economic recovery. It would gut right-to-work protections for blue-collar workers.

It would throw hundreds of billions at the far-left’s ‘green’ fads. They even want to include a special state and local tax provision designed to overwhelmingly benefit wealthy residents of blue states.

Less than 6% of this proposal goes to roads and bridges. It’s not remotely targeted toward what Americans think they’re getting when politicians campaign on infrastructure.

But instead of coming up with a better bill, Democrats have decided it’s the English language that has to change.

They’re embarking on an Orwellian campaign to convince everybody that any government policy whatsoever can be labeled ‘infrastructure.’ Liberals just have to believe in it hard enough.

These Trojan horse tactics have become a pattern.

Many of our Democratic colleagues are trying to rewrite 50 states’ election laws from here in Washington, mount a partisan takeover of the Federal Election Commission, but call the whole mess a ‘voting rights bill.’

The White House’s claims about state election regulations keep getting disproven by fact-checkers. But even so, some of the wealthiest and most powerful institutions in our country have bowed down to fake narratives and decided to amplify the misstatements themselves.

Look, I’m as strong a supporter of the First Amendment and free speech as anyone in this body. I have been for many years. If people want to participate in debates through political speech, that’s their constitutional right, even if they fall for disinformation.

But it’s one thing to act like free speakers within a debate. It’s very different to try to short-circuit the debate, to shut down the debate, through economic bullying of American citizens.

The last two weeks also brought more troubling signs from our southern border. Last month closed with Customs and Border Patrol reporting the highest total for migrant apprehensions in nearly two decades.

But while Republican Senators traveled to the border, met with officials, and learned about the reality on the ground, the Administration has preferred to inaccurately blame this recent spike on their predecessors.

Finally, last week the White House rolled out a new budget proposal. I’d been a supporter of Secretary Blinken’s and other officials’ tough talk with the People’s Republic of China. And with Putin again massing forces on Ukraine’s border, Administration officials have been right to warn against further Russian aggression.

This budget outline was going to be one of the first real tests to see if the Administration was prepared to walk the walk, and put sufficient funding toward our military and strategic competition with China and Russia, both of which have invested heavily in military capabilities that threaten our forces.

Unfortunately, for all the rhetoric, the President has asked Congress to break from the positive trajectory of the last four years and instead cut defense spending after inflation.

That’s going backwards on national defense. This would undermine recent bipartisan progress, put the modernization of our Armed Forces in jeopardy, and help China toward their goal of overtaking the United States as the world’s preeminent superpower.

This budget proposal sent a clear signal to the rest of the world. And unfortunately, it suggested to our allies — from Eastern Europe to the South China Sea — that American resolve is far from guaranteed.

On all these issues, there is broad and deep bipartisan interest in working together.

Infrastructure legislation that actually focuses on infrastructure… Voting legislation that actually makes it easier to vote and harder to cheat… And funding legislation that provides the Pentagon with what it needs to keep up with China, Russia, and other adversaries… Legislation on all these topics have a track record of earning overwhelming bipartisan support.

All these issues are ripe for regular-order, bipartisan work if the President and our Democratic colleagues are interested in going about them the right way. But if the Administration decides to reprise their tactics from February and March, if Democrats just declare ‘our way or the highway,’ we’ll know they have chosen to create political controversies rather than make progress for American families.”

Chinese vessels are moored at Whitsun Reef, South China Sea on March 27, 2021. (National Task Force-West Philippine Sea via AP) Asia & Pacific

By The Associated Press April 12, 2021 Updated: April 13, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT—Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday discussed with his Philippine counterpart China’s recent positioning of “militia vessels” near the Philippines in the South China Sea.

Austin spoke by phone with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana while Austin was flying from Washington to Israel to begin an international trip.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Austin and Lorenzana discussed the situation in the South China Sea and the recent massing of Chinese vessels at Whitsun Reef, which has drawn criticism from Manila.

In their phone call, Austin proposed to Lorenzana several measures to deepen defense cooperation, including by “enhancing situational awareness of threats in the South China Sea,” Kirby said. He did not elaborate.

Kirby said last week that the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group, as well as the amphibious ship USS Makin Island, are operating in the South China Sea.

The U.S. has no military forces based permanently in the Philippines but sometimes rotates forces to the country under the U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement.

The recent gathering of Chinese vessels near the Philippines is among moves the United States has criticized as efforts by Beijing to intimidate smaller nations in the region.

A minor walks over others inside a pod for females at the Department of Homeland Security holding facility run by the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) in Donna, Texas, on March 30, 2021. (Dario Lopez-Mills – Pool/Getty Images) Immigration & Border Security

By Janita Kan April 13, 2021 Updated: April 13, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

A top official from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in charge of caring for unaccompanied immigrant children (UC) has described the surge of illegal border crossings as “unprecedented,” while adding that the temporary shelters that have been opened are providing “a crisis standard of care” to the minors.

Cindy Huang, director of HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), made the comments in a sworn declaration to a federal court judge in a case related to the 1997 Flores settlement agreement, which sets the principles and guidelines for the care, custody, and release of immigrant children under federal custody.

In her testimony, Huang characterized the ongoing surge of illegal immigrants at the U.S. southern border, particularly a surge in unaccompanied minors, as “historic” and “unprecedented,” while telling the federal judge that she believes the influx is likely to increase in the “coming weeks and months.”

“As an initial matter, it is important to understand that the current influx is not limited to the January-March time period but is an ongoing challenge that will likely increase in severity in the coming weeks and months,” Huang told a federal judge from California (pdf).

Her declaration was made in response to a series of recommendations by an independent monitor and special expert about the conditions at CBP facilities, ORR emergency holding facilities, and other facilities currently caring for migrant children.

“ORR appreciates the Interim Report’s acknowledgement that the U.S. Government is dealing with an unprecedented number of UC apprehended at the border and that ORR has vastly expanded its capacity in a short amount of time,” she said.

Huang’s comments are in contradiction to remarks made by President Joe Biden during his first formal press conference on March 25. Biden sought to downplay the severity of the situation at the U.S. southern border, saying that the influx was driven by normal seasonal patterns rather than his administration’s new policies.

“It happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year,” Biden said at the time.

Other members of Biden’s administration such as White House press secretary Jen Psaki have also been careful about using the term “crisis” to describe the situation at the border.

In her declaration, Huang describes temporary migrant holding centers, known as Emergency Intake Sites, as “temporary emergency sites” that are “focused on providing a crisis standard of care until [unaccompanied children] can be transferred to a better-resourced setting.”

Her declaration also provides a glimpse into how the continuous flow of illegal immigration is overwhelming the federal agencies tasked with managing the situation.

“[I]t should be noted that EISs are novel temporary facilities implemented with urgency to address the historic number of children arriving at the border,” Huang said. “Given the significant overcrowding at CBP facilities, immediate implementation of EIS facilities was viewed as critical to ensuring the welfare of UC and was prioritized over the development of nuanced policies governing these sites. However, ORR has been working diligently to develop policies standardizing services at EIS facilities, and these forthcoming policies are currently undergoing an expedited clearance process.”

The HHS previously said it is seeking to build capacity for 13,500 beds, with the potential for additional capacity in order to meet what has been a continuous flow of unaccompanied minors coming across the border. The department has opened multiple temporary facilities in the past two weeks.

For the month of March, CBP agents encountered over 172,000 illegal immigrants, according to statistics released on April 8. This is up from just over 101,000 individuals encountered in February.

Among those who crossed illegally into the United States last month were over 18,800 unaccompanied minors, which is double the number of minors who illegally arrived in the United States in February at over 9,300 encounters. This is compared to 5,585 unaccompanied minors in January, and 4,993 unaccompanied minors in December 2020.

Under current law, unaccompanied minors are supposed to be transferred out of CBP care and custody to more permanent housing within 72 hours.

The White House did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment on Huang’s testimony.

A CCTV screenshot showing intruders dressed in black, one wielding a sledge-hammer, damaging printing press equipment at the print shop of the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times on April 12, 2021.(The Epoch Times) China-US News

By Cathy He April 12, 2021 Updated: April 12, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

U.S. lawmakers on April 12 condemned the latest attack on The Epoch Times’ printing press in Hong Kong, saying it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was behind the incident in an attempt to silence reporting that’s critical of the regime.

In the early hours on April 12, four men wearing face masks—two of whom wielded sledgehammers—barged into the printing warehouse and smashed machinery and computers for around two minutes before leaving with a computer.

No staff members were injured during the incident.

The intruders caused extensive damage, and the newspaper’s Hong Kong edition has been forced to suspend its operations for the foreseeable future.

The attack is the fifth time the site has been vandalized since its establishment in 2006, and came less than 18 months after four masked intruders set fire to the same facility during the height of the pro-democracy protests in the city. Those perpetrators were never caught.

“The repeated, violent attacks on The Epoch Times shock the conscience,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “Clearly, the Chinese Communist Party and its street thugs cannot abide any media outlet reporting the facts about the Party’s depredations.”

With much of Hong Kong’s media exhibiting pro-Beijing leanings in recent years, the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times is one of the few independent media in the city that covers the CCP’s abuses in mainland China, Hong Kong, and abroad.

“At a time when America’s corporate media have adopted the self-righteous slogan ‘speak truth to power,’ The Epoch Times has the courage to actually do it, and they are paying a high price for sticking to their principles,” Nunes said.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) described the CCP’s rule as a “thugocracy” that “relies on intimidation, extortion, and violence to suppress freedom and those who strive for truth and self-government by consent.”

“It would be no surprise if the CCP were behind such an attack as they consistently seek to extinguish any light that exposes the dark sea of repression that keeps their illegitimate government afloat,” Perry said in an emailed statement.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) described the attack as “reprehensible.”

“The freedom of the press in Hong Kong is under attack from the Chinese Communist Party,” Banks said in a statement.

Press freedom in Hong Kong has gradually eroded since the city was transferred from British to CCP rule in 1997. Once a bastion of press freedom in Asia, the city has fallen to its current ranking at 80th place in the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, from 18th in 2002.

The slide was a result of “pressure from Beijing,” according to the nonprofit.

Meanwhile, the CCP’s imposition of a draconian national security law has sparked fears of a further tightening of press freedom in the city. The law, which took effect last July, punishes what Beijing deems to be acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, or collusion with foreign forces, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Since then, dozens of pro-democracy figures, including media mogul Jimmy Lai, have been charged or convicted under the legislation or similar laws.

Last month, the Chinese regime introduced sweeping changes to the city’s electoral system that drastically reduce democratic representation, while seeking to ensure that “patriots” loyal to Beijing rule the financial hub.

Other lawmakers reacted with a tone of defiance.

“We will not back down to [the CCP’s] intimidation tactics,” Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) said in a statement. “This event should not stop publications like the Epoch Times from speaking out against the CCP’s actions and humanitarian crimes.”

Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) said that if the CCP is found to be behind the attack, it should be held accountable, while Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) said in a statement that the attack is another attempt by the regime to “silence the voices of truth-tellers in Hong Kong.”

“I’m praying for my fellow freedom-lovers living under the CCP’s repressive regime,” Babin added. “May they remain steadfast and courageous in their pursuit of the truth!”

Meanwhile, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) called the incident “extremely concerning.”

“Now more than ever, the United States must stand up for democracy and human rights, and fight against Communist China’s aggression and quest for global dominance,” Scott said in a statement.

Hong Kong

By Frank Fang April 12, 2021 Updated: April 12, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Four intruders barged into the printing plant of the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times in the early hours of April 12, damaging computers and printing equipment in an attack believed to be the latest effort by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to silence the news outlet.

In an attack on the same facility in November 2019, four masked men set fire to two printing presses; the perpetrators are still at large.

Cheryl Ng, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong edition, said the intrusion was characteristic of the CCP and had the aim of silencing an independent outlet from reporting on topics that are taboo to the communist regime.

Ng, who condemned the attack, said it was a crime against Hong Kong’s freedom of speech.

The Epoch Times, one of the few independent media outlets in Hong Kong, is known for its uncensored coverage of China, including political infighting within the CCP, the regime’s human rights violations against ethnic minorities and religious groups, and Beijing’s propaganda and influence operations abroad.

The Hong Kong edition also has provided extensive independent coverage of the city’s pro-democracy movement, which started in June 2019 but subsided in July 2020 when Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on the China-ruled city. The law has further stripped Hong Kong’s dwindling autonomy, in particular the city’s press freedoms.

In a statement, the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times condemned the CCP for creating “white terror” in Hong Kong, while calling on the international community to monitor Hong Kong’s freedom of speech, which is under siege by the communist regime.

Intrusion

About 4:38 a.m. on April 12, a female employee of the printing press returned to the shop, where she spotted a man in his 30s standing nearby, while chatting on his cellphone.

When the employee tried to close a sliding door, the man suddenly walked up and stood in the doorway, preventing it from being shut.

The man then angrily questioned the female employee, asking her to have ‘Mr. Chu’ come out and meet him. When the employee responded that there was no such person, the man refused to walk away.

Suddenly, three other men arrived and pushed their way into the facility. Two of them carried sledgehammers, and one of them carried a plastic bag with a knife in it.

They shouted at another employee: “Go away. Go away. It is none of your business. Go away. Don’t force me to do anything.”

After barging in, the men started hammering on the printing equipment. Among the items damaged were the printing press’s central control panel and several computers. One of the men also tossed construction debris from his bag onto the equipment.

The intrusion, which was captured on video, lasted about two minutes. When the men left, they stole a computer before fleeing in a white van.

The printing plant staff then called the police, who arrived shortly afterward.

The printing site, established in February 2006, has been attacked four previous times. That month, thugs broke into the building and damaged the newly purchased equipment.

In October 2012, thugs failed to smash open a gate in an attempt to break into the print shop. About two months later, seven men toting toolboxes appeared and began trying to break through the gate; they fled after police were called.

The Nov. 19, 2019, arson attack resulted in damages of more than $40,000. That day, four individuals, who were dressed in black in an apparent attempt to disguise themselves as Hong Kong democracy protesters, lit a fire that activated the warehouse’s sprinkler system.

Several U.S. senators, as well as the rights groups Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong all spoke out against the arson attack.

Ng said that the company’s Hong Kong edition won’t bow to violent threats, and is in the process of repairing the damage. She expressed hope that the Hong Kong police will solve the case and bring the four men to justice.

She urged Hongkongers to continue to support the newspaper.

President Donald Trump arrives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Sept. 24, 2017. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Donald Trump

By Jack Phillips April 11, 2021 Updated: April 11, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Former President Donald Trump, in a speech to GOP donors on Saturday, predicted that the Republican Party would win back the Legislature in 2022 and a Republican would win in 2024.

“We are gathered tonight to talk about the future of the Republican Party—and what we must do to set our candidates on a course to victory,” Trump said in a copy of his prepared remarks, according to numerous news outlets. “I stand before you this evening filled with confidence that in 2022, we are going to take back the House and we are going to reclaim the Senate—and then in 2024, a Republican candidate is going to win the White House.”

Trump made the remarks at a keynote address at a Republican National Committee’s (RNC) donor summit in Florida, according to a draft copy of his speech that was obtained by several news outlets. Trump, in the speech, also told donors that he wants to grow the Republican Party.

The Epoch Times has contacted Trump’s team for comment.

Earlier Saturday, Trump aide and spokesman Jason Miller told Newsmax that the former president would place emphasis on winning back the Senate and House in the midterm elections.

“Obviously I’m biased to who I hope that will be, if President Trump does decide to run again,” Miller told the network. “But I also think you’re going to see President Trump go after Joe Biden again and very strong terms with regard to the border, the woke corporate cancel culture.”

Miller noted that other presidents, such as George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton, did not have much political sway when they respectively left office, unlike Trump.

“He’s stronger than ever,” Miller told Newsmax, adding that in 2024, Trump would be “far and away the favorite on the Republican side of the field.”

Trump’s adviser said that what President Joe Biden “has done to the border is an absolute travesty, not only with the human trafficking, [but] with the drug trafficking, with the fact that we have people who haven’t been tested for COVID that are coming into the country.”

He added that when “Biden got up there on that debate stage for the Democrats and said he wants to give citizenship to 11 million undocumented folks, that’s basically sending out via Western Union a telegram to everyone around the world saying, ‘Hey, come to our border. Don’t worry about if you have a pass to legitimately come in or not, we’re gonna let you, and if you get here, then you get to stay.’”

Last month, Newsmax hired Miller as a paid contributor, and he is a non-exclusive employee, meaning he can speak to other news outlets.

According to reports citing unnamed sources, Trump did not say on Saturday whether he was running for president in 2024.

During his previous speech to CPAC in late February, Trump said that he “might beat them a third time,” referring to Democrats. “I wonder who that will be,” he said to cheers about the possible Republican candidate. “Who, who, who will that be? I wonder.”

Biden, the oldest to take the office in history, said he is planning to run for reelection in 2024.

“The answer is yes, my plan is to run for reelection,” he said last month during his first news conference. “That’s my expectation.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Young unaccompanied migrants that range in age from 3 to 9 sit inside a play pen at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, the main detention centre for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley, in Donna, Texas, on March 30, 2021. (Dario Lopez-Mills/Pool via Reuters) Executive Branch

By Zachary Stieber April 10, 2021 Updated: April 10, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday announced plans to open facilities in Michigan and Pennsylvania as officials struggle to care for the surging number of illegal immigrant minors crossing into the United States from Mexico.

The emergency sites in Albion and Erie will together have a potential capacity of 888 beds. Both are designated for children aged 12 and under who cross the border without a parent or other responsible adult. The children are known as unaccompanied minors.

The number of illegal border crossers soared in March, Biden’s second full month in office, topping 172,000, a jump of over 71,000 from the month prior. The number of unaccompanied minors more than doubled to 18,890.

The figures do not include people who crossed the border and evaded U.S. officials.

Border Patrol has been “overwhelmed” by the surge in illegal immigrants, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told The Epoch Times last month.

“All our good intentions are being overwhelmed by the pure numbers of people coming in,” he added.

Border Patrol is the initial point of contact for border crossers. After a period of time meant to be three days or less in Border Patrol facilities, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) transfers the immigrants to facilities across the country.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of HHS, is opening the new emergency intake sites in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The Albion facility will be at the Starr Commonwealth campus. The Erie facility will be at the Pennsylvania International Academy.

The office has a program that includes over 200 facilities in 22 states but has been forced to open at least 11 new sites to handle the sharp increase in unaccompanied minors, including several at U.S. military bases.

The Trump administration was expelling young immigrants who crossed the border but once Biden took office, he directed all minors to be accepted into the country and quickly united with a sponsor, usually a parent or other family member, already in the country.

Administration officials have described the change as part of an effort to develop a “more humane” immigration system. Stephen Miller, one of former President Donald Trump’s top immigration advisers, has said the policies incentivize parents to send their children on long, dangerous treks to the United States alone.

HHS was caring for nearly 17,000 unaccompanied minors as of April 8. Another 3,881 were in Border Patrol custody.

Republicans and some Democrats have repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for its reversal of key Trump-era policies, arguing the changes have spurred the spike in illegal immigrants crossing the border.

“This is out of control. It’s the middle of the night. We’ve seen dozens of children flow freely across the border in just the past few minutes. This is the reality of Joe Biden’s disastrous amnesty agenda,” House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said in a video from the border on April 9.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency, meanwhile, told news outlets that it reached an agreement to pay for 1,200 hotel beds and other necessary services for illegal immigrants in Texas and Arizona.

“Under the contract, shelter is intended to be short-term, and generally less than 72 hours, for immigration enforcement processing including establishing appropriate terms and conditions of release. All families will receive a comprehensive health assessment to include COVID-19 testing,” the agency said.

Some of the hotels are in Chandler and Phoenix, the office of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) said.

Sinema recently spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “and has called on the Department to provide more resources in Arizona to manage the flow of migrants,” the office said in a statement.

“Senator Sinema is continuing to monitor the situation and will hold Secretary Mayorkas and DHS accountable for protecting Arizona communities and ensuring all migrants are treated fairly and humanely,” it added.