Border officials said Monday that there have only been seven instances since May 6 in which migrant children were separated from their families after entering the U.S. at a port of entry and seeking asylum, as part of an effort to reject claims from Democrats that this kind of family separation is happening routinely.
“From May 6 to July 2, 5,298 individuals presented themselves at ports of entry as part of a family unit. Of those, we have had seven cases of family separation across the entire southwest border since May 6,” Todd Owens, U.S. Customs and Border Protection executive assistant commissioner of field operations, told reporters on a call Monday morning.
Border officials have instructed Central American migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to go to ports of entry and to not try to enter between ports, which is a misdemeanor as a first-time offense that has led to family separation. However, immigrant advocates and some journalistic reports have claimed family separations are taking place at ports.
CBP Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs Andrew Meehan said the agency held the call to “dispel” those reports.
Owens, who oversees operations at all 46 border crossings between the U.S. and Mexico, said four of those seven cases resulted in family separation because the adults tried to physically run through a port of entry, which is entry without inspection. The three other cases of family separation were results of criminal convictions in the adults’ backgrounds.
“Again, this is a very rare event that occurs at the port of entry and is done to ensure the safety and the well-being of the children,” Owens added.
Families who arrive at ports and claim credible fear of returning home will be documented and processed by border officers then turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations office. There, they will be held in detention while their asylum claim is presented to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for an initial review of claim.
While in CBP custody, the decision to separate a parent from child would be made by a third-level supervisor, not the front-line officer, he noted.
Owens said while in ICE custody, “if new information is developed in that time, they [ICE] may take action at that time to separate.”
Families will be kept together while in temporary CBP custody but Owens admitted due to limited holding space, some may be in separate cells at border facilities.
