They test the children before they are transferred to other federal agencies instead
The Biden admin isn’t testing kids in Customs and Border Protection facilities for the coronavirus as tens of thousands remain in government custody after the migrant surge on the southern border — even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledges “an increased risk for COVID-19 outbreaks” in these conditions.
This information came forward after the release of photographs of one facility in Donna, Texas, one that’s being used to process unattended children who came across the border ‒ showing dozens of children being held with no room to socially distance.
As vaccine access grows and case numbers decrease, many of Americans are still subject to social distancing and other rules that limit businesses’ ability to operate at full capacity. Children who can go to school in-person are seeing their learning experiences changed drastically, with three-foot social distancing guidelines, masks, and often no playground equipment.
On Friday during a news call, an admin official said that when children arrive at CBP facilities they aren’t immediately tested for COVID. About 10% of children eventually do test positive for the virus, according to data collected from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“We are not performing testing inside Border Patrol facilities,” an administration official said. They are only being tested when t hey are “transferred” to other intake facilities run by departments like HHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the official said.
Rep. Van Taylor, R-Texas, who visited the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, said the children there are packed in much tighter than the Biden administration’s health guidelines.
“They’re not socially distanced. They’re sleeping head to foot,” Taylor said.
That same location saw four teens exit without any authorization, according to FOX 4, before later being found and brought back to the center.
Testing before children are brought to HHS facilities is also not necessarily a safer route since the coronavirus can take days to incubate before it is detectable in tests, so it is possible that children could catch the virus at a CBP facility then spread it at an HHS facility.
An HHS spokesperson said last week that they were anticipating the positivity rate and they are taking precautions.
“Site staff are COVID-19 vaccinated, thoroughly trained on CDC protocols for donning and doffing PPE, and required to wear fit-tested masks and other CDC-recommended PPE at all times,” the spokesperson claimed.
Biden officials like Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, have declared that it is their goal to have children in border patrol facilities for as little time as possible. President Biden himself last week said “no child, no one should be in [CBP facilities[ any longer than seventy-two hours.” Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, however, said on CBS’ “Face The Nation” Sunday that at times children are being held by CBP for more than seventy-two hours.
An administration official said Friday that minors are being tested every three days at the secondary facilities they are placed in after being taken from CBP locations for surveillance purposes.
During the Trump administration, overcrowding at border facilities with children were the source of a huge outrage. Cuellar’s said that what is happening on the border now is still a major crisis.
“More has to be done to address this growing humanitarian crisis,” he tweeted last week. “These migrant children need our help right now. Not later.”
All unattended children encountered by law enforcement on the southern border are required to be taken in by the government. But a large majority of adults are being removed from the country when they are found by law enforcement.
Most families found during February were allowed to stay in the U.S. pending a decision on whether they would be forced to leave. This was contrary to January, when the majority were removed from the U.S. under a Trump-era health order known as Title 42, which is meant to remove people who may pose a coronavirus health risk out of the country.