Record number of migrant children in U.S. custody 0:34
(CNN) ––
Thousands of migrant children who crossed the United States-Mexico border alone are held in Border Patrol custody for more than four days on average, inside facilities not suitable for minors, according to internal documents reviewed by CNN.
The figure represents a drastic increase from a week ago, according to records.
The data, dated Tuesday, is the latest sign of the challenge facing the Biden administration regarding immigration.
Specifically, the challenge of addressing the bottleneck in the system, while the number of unaccompanied children exceeds the availability of adequate shelter space to care for them.
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Over the past 21 days, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) found an average of 435 unaccompanied children daily.
This compared to a previous average of approximately 340 minors.
Migrant children stay in the facility for an average of 107 hours.
Which exceeds the 72 allowed by US law A week ago, the average time was 77 hours.
Roberta Jacobson, the Biden government coordinator for the southern border, insisted on Wednesday that this is not the time to come to the United States.
A message that the administration has previously sent.
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“It's really important that people don't take the dangerous journey in the first place.
Also that we provide them with alternatives to make that trip, because the route is not safe, "said Jacobson at a press conference.
And so, you know, if I could emphasize that, it's really important that that message gets out.
Because the perception does not coincide with the reality in terms that the border is not open, "he added.
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A myriad of reasons could explain the sudden increase in the arrival of children to the US-Mexico border.
Among those reasons could be the dramatic cost of the pandemic in Latin America.
A region where economies that were once projected to grow have been decimated.
Added to that are the effects of two devastating hurricanes that hit the region.
And, also, a perception of more flexibility under the Biden administration.
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Generally, after being in Border Patrol custody, unaccompanied children must be turned over within 72 hours to the Department of Health and Human Services.
This entity is in charge of the care of migrant children, except in exceptional circumstances.
Once in that care, case managers work to place children with a sponsor.
That is, a parent or relative who is in the U.S. But, due to the pandemic and precautions to prevent the spread of covid-19, the department can only use a little more than half of the beds it has for children.
Jacobson was unable to indicate what the government is doing at this time to resolve the challenge regarding unaccompanied 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 believe that all of us, at every stage of this process, do everything possible to make sure that children are well cared for and moved to facilities, ”he said.
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CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked Jacobson at the news conference if he would describe the surge in migrant children as a crisis.
However, she refused to qualify him that way.
I'm not trying to be nice here.
But I think the fact is that we have to do what we must, regardless of how the situation is categorized, "he said.
He also added that there is "urgency, from the president down to fix our system."
Jacobson added that the surge in immigrants trying to reach the United States is the answer to a "significant hope for a more humane policy."
“We have seen these increases before.
The increases tend to respond to hope.
And there is significant hope for a more humane policy after four years of, you know, pent-up demand, "Jacobson said.
I don't know if I would call that a coincidence.
But, I certainly think that the idea that a more humane policy would be implemented may have led people to make that decision.
Although, perhaps most importantly, it definitely led the smugglers to express this information to spread disinformation about what was now possible, "he concluded.
CNN's Devan Cole and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
CBP United States Mexico Border Migrant children Border Patrol