Customs and Border Protection continues to publicly provide the same monthly data on the same schedule as it has since 2014,' the spokesperson said. This standard and process has been followed at DHS since the Department's inception and across bipartisan administrations. 'Across the federal government, certain employees are designated spokespeople for their respective agencies and public statements are vetted to ensure accuracy. But, as the current official said, while the Trump administration allowed some border ride-alongs for journalists during the pandemic, there has been 'not a single one since January 20,' the day President Joe Biden was inaugurated.Ī DHS spokesperson said the agency is following standards set in 2014. Some of the restrictions, particularly for in-person tours, are due to Covid-19 precautions, said one of the current officials. The unofficial policy has led some agents at the border to release videos that show mass arrests and surges of migrants without permission from Washington, two officials said.Ĭustoms and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security have not offered any media tours of the newly opened processing facility in Donna, Texas, which is reported to be over capacity with unaccompanied migrant children, a DHS official said. The new restrictions have been passed down verbally, not through an official memo, the officials said. The DHS press office released one photo late Tuesday of a mother and child undergoing a health screening inside a border facility, but no wider shots to show conditions or sleeping arrangements.Īt the height of the Trump administration’s child separation policy in June 2018, it allowed media to tour facilities where separated children were held. Multiple news organizations, including NBC News, have requested access to or photos from inside overcrowded border processing facilities holding unaccompanied migrant children they have been denied. The officials requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media about the topic.īorder Patrol officials have been told to deny all media requests for 'ride-alongs' with agents along the southern land border local press officers are instructed to send all information queries, even from local media, to the press office in Washington for approval and those responsible for cultivating data about the number of migrants in custody have been reminded not to share the information with anyone to prevent leaks, the officials said. The officials say the restrictions are seen as an unofficial 'gag order' and are often referred to that way among colleagues. WASHINGTON - The Biden administration is restricting the information Border Patrol agents and sector chiefs can share with the media as a surge of migrants tests the agency's capacity at the southern border, according to four current and two former Customs and Border Protection officials.

Gag order border control