Families are sending children alone across the southern border in response to Biden administration policies, according to a person familiar with the situation, putting them at risk and adding to the danger of the situation.
The families are exploiting Biden administration rules against immediately returning unaccompanied children from countries other than Mexico, said the individual with knowledge of discussions at the Department of Homeland Security. The policy has created a loophole for families who have been turned away after they illegally came over the border and were pushed back into Mexico by Border Patrol.
Immigration lawyers told NBC News that the strategy presents the best chance the children will be able to stay in the United States after being released to a sponsor in the country, even if it means the parent cannot go with them.
SMUGGLERS PUSH TRIPLE-DIGIT GROUPS OF FAMILIES AND CHILDREN ACROSS BORDER, THREATENING BIDEN AGENDA
Of the more than 18,000 family units who illegally came across the border last month, 8,000 were returned south of the border, federal data from February show, providing thousands of parents the opportunity to decide to send their child back over the border unaccompanied.
Single adults are still being immediately turned away after coming into the U.S. illegally. None are being held in custody or released into the U.S.
Families and children who are taken into custody are not to be held for more than 72 hours before being transferred to other agencies that have accommodations to safely hold people for longer periods. Normally, most people would be transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but because ICE is underfunded and courts have blocked some facilities from detaining more than a certain number of people, an unspecified number have been released across the country.
The Biden administration chose in January not to return unaccompanied children from the border as the Trump administration had done. Since then, the number of children arriving at the border has surged to levels not seen since the 2014 or 2019 influxes of children. Because children must be held in custody while the government searches for a sponsor in the U.S. to release them to, facilities have reportedly become overcrowded, yet the Biden administration will not let reporters inside to see the conditions.
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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who worked in the DHS during former President Barack Obama’s two terms, blamed the Trump administration’s dismantling of the asylum process for the department’s struggle responding to more migrants and said Wednesday that his predecessor failed to consider the logistics of carrying out border operations amid the pandemic.
