About 14,000 unaccompanied immigrants and refugees are currently under surveillance by US authorities after entering the United States via the southern border. This was announced by senior government officials at a press briefing on Thursday.
9,562 children are cared for by the Department of Homeland Security and approximately 4,500 by the CBP. “Our ultimate goal is to reunite unaccompanied children with a family member or sponsor in the United States as soon as possible,” said one official. About 90 percent of minors can be removed from the authorities in this way.
Significant increase in the number of immigrants
The number of immigrants entering the United States illegally from Mexico has risen sharply in recent times. According to the Border Security Agency, nearly 9,500 minors crossed the border in February alone, nearly double that of December. The United States government repatriates families and unaccompanied adults, but unaccompanied children do not.
President Joe Biden’s government has recently come under fire for the large number of underage immigrants. According to media reports, some of them are received in poor conditions.
Former US President Donald Trump made closing the southern border one of his priorities. But the Biden government partially reversed this policy. Alejandro Mayuras, the new Homeland Security Minister, said on Tuesday that the government expects a significant increase in the number of refugees and migrants arriving.
