The Border Surge Is Underway, And The Biden Administration Is Unprepared

Since November, the number of minors in federal custody has tripled to 7,000 after the Biden administration decided it would stop expelling minors and teenagers apprehended at the border without their parents.

One official from the Department of Health and Human Services told Axios on Thursday, "We're seeing the highest February numbers than we've ever seen in the history of the program." To cope with the surge, the administration has had to re-open an emergency shelter in Carrizo Springs, Texas, that was last used during the 2019 border crisis.

On Tuesday alone, more than 400 minors in Border Patrol custody were referred to shelters run by HHS. Compare that to the 30-day referral average of 294 minors at the peak of the 2019 border crisis.

Put another way, if Border Patrol continues to pick up unaccompanied minors north of the Rio Grande at this rate, a month from now we'll have a much worse crisis on the border than we did in 2019.

No federal border official, whether under Trump or Biden, wants to house kids in unsuitable Border Patrol stations designed for short-term detention of adults.

On Tuesday, The Washington Times reported on internal emails from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Chief of Staff Timothy Perry, telling ICE leadership to "Prepare for border surges now." Part of that preparation involves plans to transport illegal immigrants away from the border for processing and release in the interior of the country.

As Axios reported late Thursday, border officials expect to have 13,000 unaccompanied children cross the border in May, far surpassing the totals at the height of the 2019 crisis.

https://thefederalist.com/2021/02/26/the-border-surge-is-underway-and-the-biden-administration-is-unprepared/