Red states
Texas
and
Florida
are bearing the brunt of the surge of
unaccompanied immigrant children
across the
border
and have had more children released into their states than any other, including those that identify as
sanctuary zones
, according to a Washington Examiner analysis.
The two Republican-governed states have had more children sent by the government to adult sponsors in their states than even
California
and
New York
combined over the past couple of years, primarily since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
In fiscal 2021 and 2022, which ran from October of the previous year to September of that year, and the first three months of 2023, the
Department of Health and Human Services
discharged 266,824 unaccompanied children into all 50 states and two U.S. territories, according to publicly available HHS data.
The more than a quarter of a million releases underscore the impact that the
border crisis
has had and continues to have on state and local governments.
ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS IN JANUARY DROPPED TO LOWEST LEVELS IN NEARLY TWO YEARS
In fiscal 2021, which began one month before Biden was elected president, more than 107,000 children who came across the border illegally were released within the country. In 2022, more than 127,000 were released. In the first three months of 2023, more than 31,000 children have been released. HHS had not published data for last month.
States where most unaccompanied minors are released
- Texas (38,999)
- Florida (27,835)
- California (27,730)
- New York (19,275)
- New Jersey (14,068)
- Virginia (13,009)
- Maryland (12,920)
- Georgia (10,918)
- North Carolina (10,382)
- Tennessee (10,259)
States with fewest unaccompanied minor releases
- U.S. Virgin Islands (2)
- Puerto Rico (4)
- Alaska (13)
- Vermont (13)
- North Dakota (37)
- Wyoming (66)
- Hawaii (67)
- Montana (78)
- New Hampshire (137)
- West Virginia (160)
In 2002, Congress changed federal laws that determined how unaccompanied children at the border were to be handled. The Office of Refugee Resettlement with the HHS’s Administration for Children and Families was tasked with caring for unaccompanied children back when child arrivals were less common.
Children who come across the southern border alone or as part of a group are expeditiously taken into custody and interviewed by Border Patrol agents. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 protected children from countries other than Canada and Mexico who arrived at the border alone on the basis that they may be victims of human trafficking.
Children had been expelled at the border and returned to Mexico under a pandemic-related policy imposed by then-President Donald Trump. Biden stopped expelling children in his first few weeks in office. The number of children apprehended by Border Patrol jumped from fewer than 5,700 children in January 2021 to more than 18,000 two months later.
Border Patrol must wait for HHS to have open space at its childcare facilities before it can transfer a child from its custody, which caused the Trump administration problems in 2019 as children were held days to weeks in Border Patrol facilities.
Children remain in HHS custody for an
average of 28 days
as HHS searches for a parent, relative, or family friend to release the child to. Under the Biden administration, the adultâs immigration status does not impact the sponsor’s eligibility.
Adult sponsors must pass a background check and agree to bring the child to all future immigration court proceedings.
The latest HHS
data
outlining its nationwide capacity to house children showed that as of late October 2022, the federal government had nearly 20,000 beds available.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
On Oct. 31, 2022, HHS had 301 children between the ages of 0 and 5 in its care and more than 1,000 children ages 6 to 12. Of the 1,360 âtender ageâ children which the government defines as babies to pre-teenagers, more than 500 were in transitional foster care.
On Sunday, HHS had 7,434 children in its care nationwide and received 281 new children from the border.
The Florida and Texas governor’s offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
