We’ll let Trump post videos again, says YouTube boss
Donald Trump will be allowed to return to YouTube and post videos again once the risk of political violence in the US subsides, the company said yesterday. Susan Wojcicki, YouTube’s chief executive, confirmed yesterday the former president would be given a second chance to follow its rules, though she did not say when. The Googleowned streaming service had previously given no indication whether it would ever lift Trump’s indefinite ban, imposed in the wake of the rioting at the US Capitol in January. Wojcicki’s statement sets YouTube firmly against rivals such as Twitter, which has vowed never to allow Trump to return.
Hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children are crossing into America every day, stretching border facilities to breaking point, leaked government documents show.
Children are arriving from Mexico at levels beyond the Health and Human Services Department’s ability to house them, with an average of 321 crossing by themselves every day in the week ending March 1.
Documents obtained by Axios show that the shelter system is at 94 per cent occupancy and is expected to reach its maximum capacity this month.
The numbers have jumped significantly since the start of the year, particularly after Joe Biden relaxed the tough immigration restrictions imposed by Donald Trump.
During the Trump administration, the vast majority of migrants, including children, were returned to Mexico, while one of his most controversial policies saw parents who crossed illegally arrested and forcibly separated from their sons and daughters. Now, they are allowed to stay and have their claims processed in the US.
In the first week of January, before Biden’s inauguration, an average of 47 unaccompanied children made the crossing each day. By early February it was 203, and now it is more than 300.
The average time spent in Border Patrol facilities, which are not designed to hold children, has increased, too.
US law states it should be no longer than 72 hours, but CNN reported that children are spending an average of 77 hours at the centres before being moved on to permanent local shelters.
‘‘It is a stressful challenge. That’s why we’re working as hard as we are, not only in addressing the urgency of the challenge but also in building the capacity to manage it,’’ Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, said on Tuesday.
The situation is expected to worsen, with the Department of Homeland Security estimating that there will be 117,000 unaccompanied child migrants crossing the border this year. But Biden has faced criticism after he reopened controversial holding facilities that were established by
Trump.
Lawyers, activists and politicians have expressed their concerns about the living conditions at the Carrizo Springs site, which costs an estimated US$775 (NZ$1080) per child per day to run.
‘‘It’s unnecessary, it’s costly, and it goes absolutely against everything Biden promised he was going to do,’’ Linda Brandmiller, a San Antonio-based immigration lawyer told the Washington Post. ‘‘It’s a step backward, is what it is. It’s a huge step backward.’’
Prominent Democrats say the immigration system needs to be reshaped. ‘‘Our immigration system is built on a carceral framework,’’ said Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.