Biden Spox Suddenly Stops Laughing at Question Comparing Plight of US Kids to Migrant Kids

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White House press secretary Jen Psaki was called out at Wednesday’s briefing for laughing at a question comparing the pandemic plight of U.S. schoolchildren to that of detained migrant children.

The moment: Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Psaki if the White House was OK with detention centers for migrant children following the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 guidance for operating at full capacity while many American school districts refuse to do the same.

  • Doocy also wondered if unions for immigration officials have “been easier to work with than the teachers’ unions” — which have played a major role in blocking schools from reopening despite the mental health toll on students.

Psaki said the Biden administration was working to help school districts meet CDC guidelines for reopening and “more school districts are reopening, more kids are in classrooms every single day.”

  • Regarding the cooperation of immigration officials’ versus teachers unions, she said, “I think thats a little bit of mixing different circumstances.”

“It’s children all in tight quarters,” Doocy countered, prompting Psaki to laugh.

  • “It’s not funny,” Doocy interjected.

Psaki, quickly turning serious, said the Biden administration was working with both school districts and immigration officials, but repeated that “they are different circumstances.”

Time to admit failure?: Earlier in the briefing, Doocy got Southern Border Coordinator Roberta Jacobson to acknowledge that Biden’s rollback of Trump-era immigration policies “may have driven” the migrant surge and encouraged smugglers.

Then, on Thursday, the Washington Post reported on internal data showing that the crisis at the border is significantly worse than Biden administration has acknowledged.

  • According to the report, a record number of unaccompanied migrant children are being detained “far longer than legally allowed” as “federal health officials fell further behind in their race to find space for them in shelters.”
By We'll Do It Live