Nearly 1000 unattended migrant kids were captured in just a day last week, as the numbers of migrants coming to the southern border continue to grow with no sign of slowing down even with the summer heat.
Health and Human Services declared that 834 unattended kids and teenagers were captured on Thursday, way more than the 30-day average of 512.
It means that there are a total 2,784 children in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody, and 14,523 in HHS custody. The Biden administration has focused on moving kids captured at the border from CBP to HHS custody and then to sponsors or parents already in the country – usually illegally as well. On Thursday, 612 children were released from HHS custody to parents or guardians.
The numbers reflect a growing increase at the southern border and a sign that the border crisis that has dogged the Biden administration not likely to stop soon. The heat of the summer months often slows down the number of those traveling north in past years, but the numbers have shown no sign of slowing down.
The Biden administration has been deporting single adults and some migrant families via Title 42 public health protections related to the COVID-19 pandemic but has not been deporting unattended kids or migrant families with small kids.
More than 188,000 migrants were captured in June, including increases in UACs and migrant family units. The Associated Press reported this week that that number is anticipated to grow to more than 210,000 for July. That’s compared to about 78,000 when President Biden took office in January, and about 33,000 captures in June 2020.
The number of unattended kids captured in June increased by 8%, with 15,253 captures in June compared to 14,137 in May.
Republicans blame the Biden administration’s reversal of key Trump-era policies for the increase, especially its decline to apply Title 42 to UACs, as well as the removal of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), ending border wall construction, and significantly narrowing interior enforcement. They have warned of not only of criminals entering the country but also the possible spread of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has instead emphasized “root causes” like violence, poverty, and climate change in Central America. It has also touted its ability to move children quickly through CBP and HHS custody.
Vice President Kamala Harris, in a visit to El Paso, Texas in June, said the Department of Homeland Security has made “extreme progress” and pointed to the quicker processing of the tens of thousands of migrants arriving each month.
“They have instituted technology that over the last couple of months has expedited, in a very significant way, processing of people who are arriving at our border,” she said.