Immigrants already cross from Mexico to the US in the Biden era 3:48
(CNN) -
The growing number of migrant minors arriving alone at the U.S.-Mexico border is generating alarm among officials struggling to find enough space to house the minors until they are relocated with their parents or relatives to the United States. .
On Thursday, a senior official with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) briefed Capitol staff on the capacity challenges facing the department, which is charged with caring for migrant children, according to a congress assistant.
Jallyn Sualog, acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), shared concerns about the increase in minors and limited space, noting that bed capacity hovers around 90%, according to an aide.
The problems facing the department are compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced shelters to reduce their ability to take covid-19 precautions into account.
On Thursday, there were more than 1,200 unaccompanied minors in Customs and Border Protection custody on the southwest border, according to a Department of Homeland Security official, who warned that the number is constantly fluctuating.
More than 100 minors have been in custody for more than 72 hours, according to the official and a source with knowledge of the situation.
Most of the minors are over 10 years old, the source said.
Customs and Border Protection continues to hold more than 300 unaccompanied minors daily at the U.S.-Mexico border on average, according to the Homeland Security official.
On Wednesday, border officials arrested about 360 unaccompanied minors, according to a Customs and Border Protection official, adding that the majority of those arrests occurred in the Rio Grande Valley.
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Unaccompanied migrant minors are a particularly vulnerable population and one that the United States has struggled to address for years.
The Border Patrol facilities, designed for expedited processing of adults, are not equipped to care for minors.
Instead, they are turned over to HHS, which runs a network of shelters where they remain until they are relocated with a parent or relative to the US.
But the process has been further complicated by the pandemic.
“There has been a significant growth in the number of minors in custody in the last month, but the current number of minors in custody is not high relative to several times during the Trump administration.
What is different now is that many of the beds that ORR had agreed to be available are not available due to covid, "said Mark Greenberg, Principal Investigator at the Migration Policy Institute and former HHS official.
There were approximately 6,800 minors in the agency's care as of February 18.
In April 2019, as arrests at the border increased, approximately 8,700 unaccompanied minors were turned over to ORR.
The increase in minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, along with restrictions on the capacity of the shelters, has resulted in minors remaining in Border Patrol custody for more than 72 hours, according to two U.S. officials.
“[The number] is growing.
If they don't take the children and the children keep coming, what are we supposed to do? "A Homeland Security official told CNN, referring to HHS.
Another official said HHS is "fighting" for space to house the children.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement, a federal agency under HHS, recently opened an overflow facility in Texas to accommodate newcomers.
The agency said shelters are also authorized to pay transportation bills for minors, including airline tickets, to facilitate delivery to approved sponsors, a measure that is likely to be less expensive than keeping children in care.
"The system itself for all unaccompanied minors is being strained in an effort to protect children and communities from covid and its spread," the source with knowledge of the process told CNN.
"The responsibility lies with the programming on how to mitigate concerns, how to adapt."
In January, more than 5,800 unaccompanied children were detained by Customs and Border Protection at the US-Mexico border, according to the agency's most recent monthly data.
That is the highest level since the summer of 2019 after that year's spring surge of migrants who reached the southwestern border.
The number of unaccompanied migrant minors detained at the border has continued to rise this month, authorities said.
Last year, when the pandemic gripped the country, the Trump administration invoked a public health law that allowed border officials to turn away migrants detained at the border, including children, resulting in low numbers of children. Unaccompanied admitted to the United States.
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A federal judge eventually prevented the administration from subjecting unaccompanied minors to the policy, but that decision was later reversed by a federal appeals court.
However, the Biden administration has said it would not expel the children.
"Our best option, in our opinion, is to process these children through the HHS facilities where covid protocols exist, where they are safe, where they can have access to medical and educational care," said the Casa Press secretary. Blanca, Jen Psaki, during Thursday's press conference.
"There are very few good options here and we chose the one we thought was the best," he added.
Immigrant children
