“The levels of flows pose a challenge for the border patrol, but the high level of recidivism means that we cannot view these flows as individual people. It is often the same people who return,” an official said. administration.
A public health order put in place under the Trump administration that allows border officials to quickly turn back migrants apprehended at the southern border of the United States has contributed to the increase in the number of repeated border crossings, as recently consequences for the person who tries to enter.
While the majority of encounters along the border involved single adults deported under a public health order, CBP apprehended a record number of unaccompanied minors, with 18,890 in March, nearly double that of from February.
Administration officials argued that the majority of those encountered at the border in March were expelled quickly. Single adults and families are subject to the pandemic policy, although some families have been admitted to the United States due to limited capacity in Mexico.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees a network of shelters for migrant children, has attempted to expedite the release of children from U.S. custody to a sponsor, such as a parent or relative, in the United States, said another administration official.
“We have really increased our exit rate and made sure to unify a child with the sponsors as soon as possible and reduce the length of our care in terms of the length of stay of children in facilities to meet this. need, ”the manager said. .
One of those steps is to deploy staff from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services – an agency under the Department of Homeland Security – to work alongside case managers from the HHS Refugee Resettlement Office. .
The latest figures indicate some level of progress as the administration tries to reduce overcrowding at border patrol facilities and transfer children to HHS. But the encounters of children crossing the American-Mexican border alone are still numerous. On Tuesday, 747 unaccompanied children crossed the border.