More than 700 children who crossed from Mexico to the United States without their parents were under the supervision of the border patrol from Sunday, according to an internal document on customs and border protection obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: The current support is another sign of a brewing crisis for President Biden – and a worse dilemma for these vulnerable children. Biden finds it easier to talk about preventing storage of children at the southern border than to solve the problem.
- To make matters worse, the border crossing is usually in the spring, and it is only in February.
Behind the scenes: Of the more than 700 children waiting to be transferred to shelters overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 200 have been detained in these border patrol stations for more than 48 hours.
- According to the internal document, nine were detained for longer than the agreed limit of 72 hours, according to the current time stamp of the data from 8:15 on 21 February.
During the White House media briefing on Wednesday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged that some children were detained for four or five days – or more.
- She blamed the delays in the bad weather that Texas closed last week, saying some long-term shelters “did not have power and were not in a place where they had the ability to take these children in and keep them safe.” do not. “
- She also pushed hard for an equality between the current and previous administrations’ treatment of children, who usually come from countries in Central America, on the border between America and Mexico.
- While president, Donald Trump has been criticized for separating children from their parents. The policy is no longer applicable, although increasing numbers of children arriving now are not being escorted, which means they are being held alone in any case.
What they say: “We have a few options: we can send them back home. … We can quickly transfer them from CPB to these HHS-managed facilities. … We can place them with families and sponsors without any investigation,” Psaki said. said. . “We chose the middle option.”
During the boom in 2019, the government’s watchdogs have found serious overcrowding with regard to sanitation, health and safety issues among U.S. consumers for customs and border patrols, which are especially important for children.
- CBP is only intended to provide short-term supervision of migrants before adults and families are transferred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and children who are not accompanied are transferred to HHS.
- Nevertheless, at least 179 minor children spent more than three days in CBP custody in January, as well as at least 48 children in December, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News reported this week.
What to look for: Coronavirus protocols have also significantly reduced the number of children who can be held in longer-term HHS shelters.
- The Biden administration has already been forced to open a temporary shelter in Texas for child migrants, which also has the ability to add tent-like structures.
More than 400 migrating children according to one administration official, referring to HHS shelters only Tuesday.
- This is a striking number, especially compared to the 30-day reference average at the peak of the 2019 crisis – which was 294.
Bottom line: The Biden administration has stopped using an emergency health order that has enabled the Trump administration to expel migrant children crossing the border quickly.
- Some experts now believe that Biden’s policy reversal is part of the reason for the recent increase in unaccompanied children arriving at the border.