The data, dated Tuesday, is the latest indication of the challenge facing the Biden government to address the bottleneck in the immigration system, with the number of unaccompanied children offering the availability of proper shelter around children to take care of.
Over the past 21 days, Customs and Border Protection has encountered an average of 435 unaccompanied children daily, compared to a previous average of about 340 children.
Roberta Jacobson, the coordinator of the Biden administration for the southern border, emphasized on Wednesday at the White House press release the message from the government that now is not the time to come to the USA.
“It’s really important that people do not undertake the dangerous journey in the first place, and that they offer alternatives to the journey, because it is not safe on the road,” she said. “And so, you know, if I can only emphasize it, that it’s really important that the message comes out, because the perception is not the same as the reality in terms of the fact that the border is not open.”
A multitude of reasons may explain the sudden increase in children on the border between America and Mexico, including the dramatic toll of the pandemic in Latin America, where economies previously trying to grow have been reduced, the results of two devastating hurricanes which affected the region, and a perception of relaxed enforcement by the Biden administration.
Usually, unaccompanied children must be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours, which involves exceptional circumstances.
Once treated, case managers will work to place children with a sponsor, such as a parent or family member, in the U.S., but due to the coronavirus pandemic and precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the department has recently still could use a little more than half of the beds for children.
Jacobson could not say what the government is currently doing to solve the challenge regarding the minor minors.
“My part of this is much more focused on what we are doing at the end of this process in Central America and Mexico. I think everyone at every stage of this process is doing everything in our power to ensure that children are well cared for. the facilities suitable for it, ‘Jacobson said on Wednesday afternoon in the press releases of the White House.
Asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins whether Jacobson would describe the boom as a crisis, she declined to say.
“I’m not trying to be cute here, but I think the fact is that we have to do what we do, no matter what anyone calls the situation,” she said, adding that there was an urgent matter from the president. , to fix our system. “
Jacobson said an increase in migrants seeking to enter the U.S. is a response to a “significant hope for a more humane policy.”
“We’ve seen congestion before. Trainings tend to respond to hope, and there was a significant hope for a more humane policy after four years of, you know, a pent-up question,” Jacobson said.
‘I do not know if I would call it coincidence, but I certainly think that the idea of a more humane policy might have driven people to make the decision, but perhaps more importantly, it has certainly driven smugglers to express themselves. to give. this information to spread disinformation about what is now possible, ‘she added.
This story has been updated with additional details and comments on the White House.
CNN’s Devan Cole and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.