Wednesday | October 20, 2021

It’s Wednesday, October 20th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:

1) ‘Secret’ Migrant Flights Land In New York

The Topline: As the ongoing crisis at the southern border continues, a bombshell report released this week alleges that the Biden administration is quietly flying thousands of underage migrants across the country for resettlement. 

Quote Of The Day: “What’s been happening there in Westchester has been happening all over the country. And, I think it’s an issue that there ought to be more transparency on.”

– Miranda Divine, NY Post reporter who broke the story

David Peinado/NurPhoto/Contributor via Getty Images

Secret Flights

According to a New York Post report, thousands of migrants, including minors, are being secretly flown across the country, often in the middle of the night. 

At one small airport in New York, there were reportedly 21 flights of migrants offloaded from Texas, including two flights from Houston that landed at 2:13 am and 4:29 am. 

Context: This week, leaked border patrol documents showed over 160,000 illegal immigrants had been released into the country, reportedly with little oversight. 

Is This Normal?

While it is standard procedure to resettle certain migrants in areas where they have established family connections, or in towns with processing centers, the secretive nature of these flights and the record number of unaccompanied minors flooding the border is abnormal.

The most recent government data showed that in July and August alone, there were 37,805 unaccompanied minors detained at the southern border. 

Over the past year, over 130,000 unaccompanied minors have been caught trying to cross the border illegally. Many children are handed over to human smugglers who often abandon them in dangerous conditions. 

Biden Administration

Critics of President Joe Biden say his immigration policies have incentivized parents to send their kids to the U.S. alone, because they know they’ll be allowed into the country if they don’t have a parent with them. 

When President Trump was in office, unaccompanied minors were often denied entry to the country, and there were on average, 48,000 unaccompanied minors detained each year – a number that has already tripled this year.

Abbie Parr/Contributor/Getty Images

2) Seattle Police Officers Face Termination Over Mandate

The Topline: As Seattle faces a shortage of law enforcement, police officers who declined to get vaccinated against COVID-19