Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has enlisted the Federal Emergency Management Agency to handle the ongoing unaccompanied minor and illegal immigration crisis at the southern border, which has exploded in recent weeks.
“I am grateful for the exceptional talent and responsiveness of the FEMA team,” Mayorkas said. “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. Yet, as I have said many times, a Border Patrol facility is no place for a child. 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.”
“It is never safe to come to the United States through irregular channels, and this is particularly true during a pandemic,” he continued. “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 news comes as the Biden administration continues to violate federal law by housing minors in CBP facilities for longer than 72 hours.
JUST IN: A south Texas migrant facility is now at 729% of its legal capacity, children are going hungry and are only able to shower once every seven days -Daily Mail
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 13, 2021
Hundreds of immigrant children and teenagers have been detained at a Texas Border Patrol tent facility in packed conditions, lawyers who have interviewed some of the children say. The Biden administration has denied the lawyers access to the facility. https://t.co/QetIQtKsGW
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 13, 2021
Biden administration officials, including White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, have refused to call the situation a crisis.
