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Topline
The number of unaccompanied migrant children in the United States topped 20,000 on Tuesday, as border crossings continue to spike, but federal officials have gradually started moving kids out of crowded makeshift facilities at the border and into temporary shelters.
Minors talk to an agent outside at a pod in a Department of Homeland Security holding facility, in … [+]
Key Facts
Some 20,273 unaccompanied minors were in the custody of federal agencies on Tuesday, according to data released Wednesday, an 11% jump from a week earlier.
About 79% of those children were staying in shelters run by Health and Human Services, often in unusual temporary spaces like convention centers and military bases, and the other 21% — over 4,200 kids — were held by Border Patrol, which frequently houses minors in cramped holding centers designed for adults.
That’s a shift from last Tuesday, when almost 29% of the country’s unaccompanied minors — or nearly 5,300 kids — were in Border Patrol custody.
What To Watch For
More unaccompanied minors. In the last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has caught around 500 kids crossing the border without their parents every day.
Big Number
19,000. That’s how many unaccompanied minors were caught at the southern border last month, double the total for February and more than triple January’s numbers, according to preliminary figures obtained by several news outlets.
Key Background
Normally, Border Patrol is supposed to send unaccompanied minors to HHS-run shelters as quickly as possible, and HHS cares for them until the federal government tracks down a parent or other adult sponsor in the United States. That system broke down after this year’s border surge: HHS ran low on shelter beds, leaving thousands of children stranded on sleeping pads in spartan Border Patrol facilities designed to hold far fewer people. As a result, HHS has scrambled to add thousands of extra beds by opening up temporary shelters.
Crucial Quote
“As I have said repeatedly, a Border Patrol facility is no place for a child,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said last week. “We have been working around the clock, in coordination with HHS, to quickly move unaccompanied children out of these crowded Border Patrol stations and into the care of HHS.”
Further Reading
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