The Biden administration on Saturday announced that it has directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the U.S. southwest border in response to the arrival of "record numbers" of illegal immigrants, including unaccompanied children.
The emergency management agency will support the federal government over the next 90 days to receive, shelter, and transfer unaccompanied children who cross the border illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
"We are working in partnership with HHS 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. Our goal is to ensure that unaccompanied children are transferred to HHS as quickly as possible, consistent with legal requirements and in the best interest of the children."
The number of encounters at the southwest border has been rising steadily over the last few months. Between October 2020 and January 2021, the number of enforcement encounters was 296,259, an 79.6 percent increase from 164,932 for the same period a year earlier, according to CBP data.
The number of family units (19,246) and unaccompanied minors (9,457) crossing illegally rose significantly in February compared to previous months. This is compared to 7,294 family units and 5,585 unaccompanied minors in January; and 4,404 family units and 4,993 unaccompanied minors in December 2020.
“What I’ve conveyed is it doesn’t matter what you call it, it is an enormous challenge, it is something front and center for the president,” Psaki responded to a reporter during a press briefing.
“While there are no final policy decisions, there are variety of actions under consideration, including identifying and assessing other licensed facilities that can help add safe capacity for these children,” she added. “The president is very focused and very in the weeds on the operational details here and pushing his team to take every step that can be taken to address exactly what you noted.”
In this statement, Mayorkas urged migrants to not take the dangerous journey of trying to enter the United States illegally.
“It is never safe to come to the United States through irregular channels, and this is particularly true during a pandemic,” Mayorkas said. “To effectively protect both the health and safety of migrants and our communities from the spread of COVID-19, individuals apprehended at the border continue to be denied entry and are returned.”
The sharp increase in unaccompanied minors arriving at the border in the weeks following the Biden administration's reversing of several Trump-era immigration policies has prompted it to open more overflow shelters to handle the influx.
Recently, the DHS rescinded Trump's public charge rule that requires prospective immigrants to be able to financially support themselves if they were to receive their visas.