U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement family detention centers could soon reach capacity if the current rate of families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border continues, a new report says.
[Related: Trump administration could be holding 30,000 border kids by August, officials say]
The family detention centers house 3,335 beds, but 420 parents and children have been entering the U.S. on a daily basis, NBC News reports. It’s uncertain how many beds are already in use.
The report comes amid backlash against the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy to prosecute all illegal immigrants that prompted children to be separated from their guardians.
Although Trump previously claimed a 2016 court decision demanded either families be separated or the government ignore immigration law, he signed an executive order Wednesday to prevent the zero tolerance policy from splitting up families.
“We’re going to have strong — very strong — borders, but we are going to keep the families together,” Trump said Wednesday. “I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated.”
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that thousands of minors attempting to enter the country between the ports of entry were separated from accompanying adults after the Trump administration’s zero tolerance immigration policy took effect.
Minors who were split from their families will be housed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
It is unclear if or how children who have already been separated from their parents will be reconnected.
[Also read: Putting migrant children in tent cities costs $775 per person per night: Report]
