Biden administration sending FEMA to border to care for migrant kids arriving in record numbers

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to aid and support efforts “to safely receive, shelter, and transfer unaccompanied children” crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a Saturday statement.

The announcement comes on the tail of a week that saw the number of unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. Border Patrol custody rise to unprecedented heights — more than 3,200 unaccompanied migrant children were in CBP custody, according to documents obtained by CNN.

Of those, around 2,600 were awaiting placement in shelters suitable for minors, but there were just more than 500 beds available to accommodate them.

“I am incredibly proud of the agents of the Border Patrol, who have been working around the clock in difficult circumstances to take care of children temporarily in our care,” Mayorkas wrote Saturday. “Yet, as I have said many times, a Border Patrol facility is no place for a child. We are working in partnership with (the Department of Health and Human Services) to address the needs of unaccompanied children, which is made only more difficult given the protocols and restrictions required to protect the public health and the health of the children themselves.”

On Friday, the Biden administration announced the termination of a Trump-era agreement that had allowed DHS and HHS to share information on potential sponsors for migrant children with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which a Biden administration official said had had a “chilling effect” on undocumented family members coming forward.

Earlier this month, CNN reported migrant children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border alone are on average staying in Border Patrol custody for longer than the three-day limit, overwhelming capacity at border facilities and indicating a crisis taking shape, according to internal documents.

But, at a press briefing at the White House, Mayorkas declined to describe the situation at the border as a crisis, instead calling it “a challenge.”

With Saturday’s announcement, FEMA will work with HHS “to look at every available option to quickly expand physical capacity for appropriate lodging.”