by Kaylee Greenlee
Customs and Border Protection has held at least 800 unaccompanied migrant minors in custody for over 10 days, Axios reported
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can legally hold unaccompanied minors for 72 hours, though over 3,300 were in custody over the limit as of Saturday, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document obtained by Axios. Over 2,200 unaccompanied minors were held for more than five days and around 820 were in custody for over 10 days.
The number of unaccompanied minors in CBP custody for over 10 days has quadrupled in the last week, Axios reported. Only around 180 unaccompanied minors were in CBP custody for over 10 days as of last Monday.
Minors are required to be transferred from Border Patrol facilities within three days of arrival, however, the recent increase in encounters has overwhelmed processing capabilities.
NEW: Exclusive photos from inside a CBP temporary overflow facility taken over the weekend in Donna, Texas reveal the crowded, makeshift conditions at the border as the government's longer term child shelters and family detention centers fill uphttps://t.co/uxdWO7cV7N
— Stef Kight (@StefWKight) March 22, 2021
CBP is legally required to hold unaccompanied minors until the Department of Health and Human Services is able to place them in a shelter.
The Biden administration’s immigration policy combined with natural disasters and other factors in Central America have contributed to an increase in migrants arriving at the southern border, Axios reported.
The Biden administration has reopened other temporary facilities including hotel rooms as temporary sites to hold unaccompanied migrant children and family units, Axios reported.
CBP did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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Kaylee Greenlee is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
