Fact-check: Is the Biden administration prioritizing sending baby formula to the border?

Greg Abbott: Says the Biden administration is choosing to send baby formula to the border as one of its “out-of-touch priorities.” PolitiFact's ruling: Mostly False Here's why: As frightened parents grapple with the country’s ongoing shortage of baby formula, some politicians are criticizing the Biden administration, claiming it’s prioritizing immigrant children detained at the border over American families. The narrative took off after U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., shared a side-by-side photo comparison of a scene from the southwest border and a U.S. grocery store. "The first photo is from this morning at the Ursula Processing Center at the U.S. border. Shelves and pallets packed with baby formula," Cammack tweeted on May 11. "The second is from a shelf right here at home. Formula is scarce. This is what America last looks like."

A border patrol agent in Texas sent her the photo, Cammack said. She said the agent told her that his facility had been receiving pallets of formula for immigrants who crossed into the U.S. illegally. Before long, other Republicans and news outlets like Fox News picked up the story. In a joint statement on May 12, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, and National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd took aim at President Joe Biden’s policies. "While mothers and fathers stare at empty grocery store shelves in a panic, the Biden administration is happy to provide baby formula to illegal immigrants coming across our southern border," read the statement. "This is yet another one in a long line of reckless, out-of-touch priorities from the Biden administration when it comes to securing our border and protecting Americans." PolitiFact was unable to independently verify the authenticity of Cammack’s photo, and a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not weigh in on that. It is also unclear when this formula was sent, how long it’s been there or how many people need it.