Report: Twice as Many Children in Border Control Custody Than Trump Admin Peak

Border Patrol facilities are holding more than double the record number of migrant children that were held in June 2019 during the Trump administration, according to a new report. The Washington Examiner reported that…

IJR SyndicatedMar 30, 20213 min read

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“Those are facilities that are not intended for them, they look like jail-like conditions, like prison cells with concrete walls and concrete benches, and these kids are spending more than the three-day limit than they’re supposed to according to federal law,” Alvarez said on CNN’s “New Day.”

“The administration is racing here to find enough space for these kids that is suitable for them.”

Border Patrol agents are finding spaces for children in tents and rooms as they wait for more space to open up in HHS facilities where migrant minors are held until sponsors for the children can be found, the Examiner reported.

Minors cannot be immediately deported because they could be victims of human trafficking.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has called the border situation “difficult” and said the administration is “on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years” in a March 16 statement.

The number of children in Border Patrol facilities is also higher than the number of children that were separated from their parents under President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” initiative, according to the Examiner.

The Biden administration continues to blame the Trump administration for the problem at the border.

“We are digging out of a broken system over the past four years — not just the inhumane policies, but the fact that there were never efforts put in place to look for and seek shelters where these children could be safely and humanely housed,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday, according to a transcript of the media briefing.

The Trump administration chose not to take any migrants into custody in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but President Joe Biden reversed this decision when he took office in January.

The Examiner reported over 117,000 unaccompanied minors are expected to show up at the southern border.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.