‘The border is not open’: Biden czar seeks foreign aid to slow flow

WASHINGTON, DC — The number of migrant children and families seeking to cross the U.S. southwest border has surged to levels not seen since before the pandemic, a challenge for President Joe Biden as he works to undo the restrictive immigration policies of his predecessor.

Roberta Jacobson, Biden’s senior official for southwest border affairs and a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said the U.S. is urging people not to try to cross the border, warning they will be sent back, but also stressing that unaccompanied children will be given shelter and care while their cases are processed.

"The border is not open," said Jacobson, switching to Spanish on a number of occasions during a White House briefing to stress the point.

Statistics released Wednesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection showed the number of children and families increased by more than 100 percent between January and February. Kids crossing by themselves rose 60% to more than 9,400.

The Biden administration is temporarily holding children and families in government and private facilities for several days while it evaluates claims for asylum or determines if they have any other legal right to stay in the U.S.

Jacobson said the administration is asking Congress for $4 billion for targeted aid to nonprofit and community organizations in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to try to ease some of the conditions that cause people to flee their homelands.

“Only by addressing those root causes can we break the cycle of desperation and provide hope for families who clearly would prefer to stay in their countries and provide a better future for their children,” she told reporters at the White House.

Jacobson said the U.S. is also restoring a program, ended under Trump, that reunited children in the three Central American countries with parents who are legal residents in the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security has also begun processing the asylum claims of thousands of people who were forced by the Trump administration to stay in Mexico, often in dangerous conditions, for a decision on their case.

U.S. officials say that early Biden administration moves on immigration have likely been incorrectly portrayed by smugglers to migrants that they will be able to cross the southwest border more easily than under President Trump. Most people are still turned back.

Nearly three-quarters of the more than 100,000 total people encountered at the southwest border in February were single adults, records show, and the vast majority were turned back to Mexico.