Andrea Mitchell Confronts Blinken on Ukrainian Refugees Being Welcomed in Europe But ‘Shackled’ in U.S. ICE Camps

MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell confronted Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Ukrainian refugees who are “shackled” in ICE camps and whether the United States can act like Europe in better welcoming them amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In an NBC News interview that aired on Wednesday, Mitchell said, “NBC has reported on at least two women, two Ukrainian women on the southern border, who were taken and for two weeks put behind barbed wire and at times shackled in an ICE camp.”

“How can we do that compared to the way Europe is welcoming them?” Mitchell asked.

Blinken responded that he’s “not aware of those reports” and that “it’s something I’ll certainly look into.”

He continued:

But here’s what’s going on. First, Europeans have been extraordinary in their generosity, in opening their hearts, opening their arms, opening their homes to so many people.  Our friends in Poland, in the first instance, have had more than 2 million people come through Poland.

Many of the refugees – most of them, in fact – want to stay close to home because what you’re seeing, Andrea – and I know you’ve seen this firsthand – is virtually everyone is a woman and children. Most of the men between 18 and 60 have stayed in Ukraine to fight.  They like to stay close at hand.  They want to go back, they want to be reunited with their husbands, with their brothers, with their sons.  And once they’re in Europe, they also have a lot of freedom of movement and the ability to reunite with other family members there.

In the same interview, Mitchell also confronted Blinken about why the United States isn’t sanctioning China and India, both of whom have offered economic lifelines to Russia amid U.S. and Western sanctions against Moscow.

Finally, Mitchell asked Blinken about the prospects of a deal with Iran. Blinken said he’s “not optimistic.” He also declined to rule out not lifting the U.S. terrorist designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Watch above, via MSNBC.