The Biden administration is moving another 500 unaccompanied children from border facilities under U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody to an emergency holding facility as part of efforts to reduce overcrowding.
The children are scheduled to arrive at the National Association of Christian Churches site in Houston, Texas, which has been transformed into an Emergency Intake Site used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
The HHS made similar statements earlier this week to announce the opening of additional overflow facilities to address the significant surge of illegal border crossings at the U.S. southern, particularly by unaccompanied minors. Children have been placed in HHS facilities in Fort Bliss and San Antonio.
While most single adults and some families are being turned back, the Biden administration has been accepting all unaccompanied minors—children who unlawfully enter the country without an adult. About 17,200 unaccompanied minors were in the custody of either CBP or HHS as of March 29, according to the HHS Administration for Children and Families.
The administration is currently seeking to build capacity for 13,500 beds, with the potential for additional capacity in order to meet what has been a continuous flow of unaccompanied minors coming across the border.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is leading White House efforts to deal with the crisis, will be focusing her efforts to address the “root causes” of migration, “not the border,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday.
Biden tapped Harris to lead the administration’s effort last month, saying that she is the “most qualified” person to handle the task, as he trusted her to speak for him on the issue.
A further 30,000 evaded capture, according to Morgan, who has received the provisional CBP numbers from internal sources.