Migrant children are in the care of U.S. authorities for over a month on average as officials are unable to keep up with the surge at the southern border, the Biden administration said Friday.
The average stay in U.S. care was 37 days, and the median was 24 days for the month of February, administration officials said.
“We are not in a place where we’re going to be able to meet the demand that we are seeing,” an official said. “Every day, we are bringing new beds online, but it takes a lot of time, unfortunately, in terms of our licensed care-provider network. We are aggressively adding hundreds of beds by the week to our care provider network.”
OVER 1,000 MIGRANT CHILDREN HELD BEYOND LEGAL DETENTION LIMIT AS BORDER SURGE WORSENS
The comments follow news that more than 3,200 children have been moved to holding facilities, which are designed to house adults, under the watch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Of the total, 1,400 have remained in custody past the 72-hour limit in small concrete rooms without beds, dubbed “hieleras,” or iceboxes. The number of solo minors in custody is the highest on record.
Administration officials likened the surge to an “emergency,” following a CBP report that agents encountered over 100,000 attempted illegal border crossings in February, and drug seizures were up 50%. The declaration from those in Biden’s orbit marks a sharp contrast to earlier statements made by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who called the influx a “challenge” rather than a crisis.
The Biden officials largely blame the policies of former President Donald Trump for the “inherited” and “dysfunctional” immigration situation, citing a surge beginning in April 2020 and “wasted” money on his border wall project that has since been halted by the new administration. The officials further said that the state of Texas has been less than cooperative in putting forth the president’s priorities.
On Sunday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki took issue with Lone Star State Gov. Greg Abbott after she alleged he “declined” money provided by the federal government to pay for coronavirus testing for illegal immigrants. Abbott, in past statements, railed against the administration for “recklessly releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants who have COVID” into Texas following news that over 100 virus-positive migrants were set free by border authorities since January.
“The governor has complained about testing at the border,” Psaki said in a Sunday interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart. “He’s shared details that are not fact-based, but, to be crystal clear here, FEMA, DHS has worked with local authorities, has worked with local NGOs to come up with a plan that would cover 100% of testing costs for migrants who cross the border.”
“He has declined that funding,” she continued. “That is something that doesn’t help the people of Texas, and we’re certainly hopeful that he’ll reconsider.”
Administration officials said they are eyeing new facilities to house migrants, but Congress must be notified 15 days prior to the opening of a new center. Biden’s team, in late February, reopened a Trump-era housing facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, to accommodate the surge, and the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to the Washington Examiner on Thursday that it is looking into property in Moffett Field, California, the home of a NASA airstrip and laboratory, which is nestled in the Golden State’s tech hub, approximately 11 miles from Apple’s headquarters, to house migrants.
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Biden’s administration is also prioritizing the “root causes” of migration and putting forth efforts to curb corruption in Central American governments to dissuade potential human smugglers. However, officials said they are not in the process of introducing a bill to Congress to increase funding for the border situation.
