NEW — The U.S. government is undertaking an unprecedented operation to house migrant children, planning to add at least 11,000 emergency beds by repurposing convention centers, camps for oil workers and military bases.
The U.S. is on track to open at least nine emergency housing facilities within President Biden's first three months in office.
The number of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border will reach historic levels this month, but the response is also unprecedented.
Emergency HHS housing facilities opened or that are set to open:
- Convention centers in Dallas and San Diego. Arena in San Antonio.
- Camps for oil workers in Midland and Pecos, TX.
- Two influx sites near Carrizo Springs, TX.
- Fort Bliss and Lackland Air Force base in TX.
We note in our story:
"Sheltering unaccompanied children and allowing them to seek US asylum or other forms of humanitarian refuge is not a new policy crafted by the Biden administration. That process is outlined in U.S. law but the Trump administration suspended it last year.."
Important update: With the addition of Lackland Air Force base and Fort Bliss, HHS could house an additional 5,350 children:
New tonight — The Biden administration announced it will issue a rule to protect the DACA program from a court challenge that threatens the legal protections of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. cbsnews.com/news/biden-adm… via @CBSNews
León Rodríguez, who oversaw DACA as USCIS director, said the rule will eliminate "one potentially significant area of challenge" faced by the program.
Judge Andrew Hanen is set to issue a ruling in a lawsuit seeking to have the Obama-era program declared unlawful and terminated.
Judge Hanen concluded in 2018 that the Obama administration should have implemented DACA through the rule-making process and allowed the public to weigh in on the policy before it was enacted.
The new Biden administration rule would be open to public comments.
JUST IN — The Dept. of Homeland Security will be issuing a new regulation concerning the DACA program to comply with President Biden’s instructions to “preserve and fortify” the Obama-era protections for Dreamers, the Justice Department tells a federal court.
The notice was provided to federal judge Andrew Hanen, who is set to rule on the legality of the DACA program.
Texas wants Hanen to declare DACA unlawful and slowly kill the program.
Unlike the Trump administration, the Biden administration is defending DACA in court.
Judge Hanen, who has previously said DACA is likely unlawful, scheduled a hearing on this key case on Tuesday.
New — Pres. Biden says all migrant families should be rapidly expelled under a Trump-era public health edict, but the policy is being enforced inconsistently across the southern border, frustrating advocates and government officials.
US diplomats in MX this weeks discussed Mexico's capacity to accept more migrant families and urged Central American nations to accept more deportation flights, per officials.
The talks included ensuring the US is expelling migrants "at a rate that does not overwhelm" Mexico.
On Thursday, for example, about 6,000 migrants entered U.S. custody along the southern border, including approximately 2,200 parents and children traveling as families.
1,900 of the parents and children were processed under US immigration laws; 300 were expelled under Title 42.
U.S. agents in south Texas are not expelling migrant families with tender age children (below the age of 7), a CBP official confirmed on a call with reporters.
About 2,300 parents and children are being encountered per day and 1,900 are being allowed to stay, the official said.
"We're still leveraging Title 42 in other areas," the official said, referring to the Trump-era public health order.
U.S. border officials are encountering about 5,000 migrants each day, including an average of more than 500 unaccompanied children, who are not being expelled.
I asked about overcrowding faced by migrant children in Border Patrol custody and reports that they're not getting access to recreation.
The official called the conditions in south Texas "very concerning," saying CBP is working to transfer children to different facilities.
UPDATE: U.S. adding 16,000 emergency beds for record-high number of migrant children entering border custody
The Fort Bliss Army base in Texas could house up to 5,000 unaccompanied migrant children, according to a notice to Congress obtained by CBS News. cbsnews.com/news/immigrati…
"On the one hand, it's difficult to see children placed in these facilities," @theYoungCenter's @JenniferNagda told CBS News. "On the other hand, ORR is doing things it has never done before — like opening emergency sites just to get kids out of CBP's law enforcement facilities."
During a call today, Biden officials said the Trump admin delayed actions during the transition that would've increased the capacity to house migrant children.
"When we’re asked why we didn’t stand up the facilities fast enough, it’s because we were not in charge until Jan. 20."