Nearly 130,000 young migrants entered the U. S. government’s refugee formula. The U. S. economy in fiscal year 2022, an all-time high for arrivals of unaccompanied minors along the southern border, according to domestic federal figures received via CBS News.
The tally surpassed the 122,000 federal shelters for unaccompanied minors won in fiscal year 2021, when Biden’s management was found unprepared for a sudden and sharp spike in child migration that led to severe overcrowding at border facilities, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said. for its acronym in English). ) set out the data.
It also eclipsed the number of young migrants transferred to HHS in 2014 and 2019, when the Obama and Trump administrations struggled to deal with what at the time was a historic number of unaccompanied minors who entered custody at the U. S. border. U. S.
Under the law, HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement is guilty of housing unaccompanied youth who have no legal immigration standing until they succeed at age 18 or can be placed in the care of a sponsor, who is a parent or other close relative living in the country. Historically, the vast majority of minors earned through the firm are migrant teens who crossed the U. S. -Mexico border without their parents or legal guardians.
The record number of unaccompanied minors processed through federal immigration agents over the past 12 months is one of a larger and unprecedented flow of migrants along the southern border that has created dire humanitarian, operational and political situations for President Biden’s administration.
The federal government along the U. S. -Mexico borderThe U. S. and Mexican Department of Commerce processed migrants more than 2 million times in fiscal year 2022, the point registered through U. S. Customs and Border Protection. U. S. About a quarter of all migrant arrests were linked to repeated crossings through the same people, according to CBP data.
Like the recent broader accumulation of illegal migration, the record arrivals of unaccompanied youth along the southern border can be attributed in part to poverty, domestic violence and gangs and other deteriorating situations in Central America, where the vast majority of those minors originate. According to migration analysts, he said.
The preference for reuniting with family members in the United States has for years been paramount in the migration of young people to the southern border. According to government estimates, about 80 percent of unaccompanied youth in Central America who are in federal custody have parents in the United States who can sponsor them.
Migrant smugglers in the region and migrants who manage to enter the United States have also pointed out to Central American families and teens in poor working-class communities that unaccompanied minors have the option to remain in the U. S. He was in the U. S. after crossing the southern border.
“In the absence of policy changes, we will most likely see gigantic numbers of unaccompanied minors for the foreseeable future,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. meaning for other young people to visit the United States to help their families or for families who are already here to bring their children. “
While the U. S. border government is not allowed to do so. While the U. S. has several governments legal to temporarily deport adults, and even families traveling with children, who enter the country illegally, a Bush-era law designed to protect minors from trafficking prohibits the expedited deportation of unaccompanied youth who are not from Mexico. He also asks that they be transferred to HHS while their instances are heard in immigration court, a procedure that takes years.
Trump’s administration suspended that procedure in 2020, a coronavirus-era public fitness order known as Title 42 to temporarily deport more than 15,000 young unaccompanied migrants from the United States. But Biden’s administration has exempted unaccompanied minors from Title 42 on humanitarian grounds.
Some young migrants detained in the U. S. U. S. citizens have arrived at the southern border with parents other than their parents, such as adult siblings, aunts or uncles, making them unaccompanied youth under U. S. law. U. S. Others traveled to the United States with their parents but were separated from them for a variety of reasons, adding concern that they would be sent back to Mexico if they crossed together.
Francisco, 15, Carlos, 13, and Diego, 4, spent several months in HHS custody this year after crossing the U. S. -Mexico border. New York, according to government documents reviewed via CBS News.
Doris, his mother, said she fled Honduras with her children after receiving death threats from her abusive and estranged husband. He said they had traveled north together but separated in northern Mexico after being chased by Mexican officials.
“I told them, ‘Run forward,'” Doris said in Spanish, saying the Mexican government had tried to prevent her circle of relatives from crossing into the United States. “It’s very difficult for me to be separated from my children. “
Francis said he helped his younger siblings enter the United States, where the Border Patrol treated the siblings as unaccompanied minors before transferring them to HHS, which placed them in shelters in Florida and New York. CBS News reveals their last names because they are minors.
When they swam across the Rio Grande, it was Francisco’s turn to take care of Diego, the younger brother. Said in Spanish.
Meanwhile, Doris said she tried to cross the U. S. several times to locate her children, but she was deported several times to Mexico. She said she felt “dead” waiting months in Mexico without her children.
It wasn’t until June that Doris said she had been granted a humanitarian exemption from Title 42 and allowed to enter the U. S. After logging into Each Step Home, a U. S. -based organization. The U. S. Department of Health and Drug Administration helps young immigrants detained in the U. S. The U. S. government is reunited with their families.
But even after Doris entered the United States, it took months for HHS to release her children because she lived in a homeless adult shelter and didn’t have a permanent address. “I almost had a central attack,” he said, describing the moment he was reunited with his children last month.
The circle of relatives now lives in a room inside a Brooklyn shelter that houses other migrant families. Despite the small living space, Doris said her children were satisfied to be with her. He was able to enroll Francisco and Carlos in a local public school, where he would be briefed in English.
“I need to examine and be in paintings one day,” Francis said.
But Doris says it’s been difficult to perform a task because she doesn’t have a painting permit. His immigration court hearing, where he can apply for asylum in an attempt to block his deportation, is scheduled for March 2023.
In a statement to CBS News, the Office of Refugee Resettlement showed it gained a record number of unaccompanied youth in fiscal year 2022. The company said it was applying to set up new shelters and load beds in 220 existing homes to accommodate more arrivals at the border. . young immigrants.
“ORR continues to build capacity that complements our ability to accept referrals from the Department of Homeland Security in a timely manner by expanding bed capacity, minimizing the time youth stay in collective care facilities, and safely hitting youth with authorized sponsors,” the firm said.
While the number of unaccompanied youth gained through HHS in fiscal year 2022 reached a record high, the Biden administration did not face the same level of operational and humanitarian setbacks in repairing those minors as it did last year.
In the spring of 2021, thousands of unaccompanied youth found themselves stranded in crowded Border Patrol tents and detention centers because HHS had enough beds in its shelter-in-place formula to space them out.
For overcrowding at border facilities, HHS has set up more than a dozen makeshift shelters at army sites, conference centers, and hard-labor camps. While situations vary from one emergency facility to another, youth housed at some of the sites reported poor services, as well as intellectual fitness problems and extended stays.
However, over the past year, HHS has closed most of its emergency sites and anticipated situations for those still operating. More case managers to place minors with sponsors.
Young migrants lately spend an average of 29 days in HHS care, up from 37 days in fiscal year 2021, according to federal statistics.
At one point in the spring of 2021, HHS was concerned about more than 22,000 unaccompanied minors, a record. As of Thursday, the company housed fewer than 10,000 unaccompanied minors, according to government data.