Just over a month into his presidency, President Biden is facing a growing border crisis that could be as bad as those faced by Barack Obama and Donald Trump, if not worse.
Why does it matter: Immigration is a subject that can consume a presidency. It is intensely and poisonously partisan. It is complicated. And the lives and well-being of vulnerable children are at stake.
The background story: Biden took office with a more warm and welcoming policy, which would treat migrants with humanity. Desperate people realized.
- And Biden reversed Trump’s COVID-era policy of rejecting unaccompanied children – the same group that is now emerging and being held for days at border posts unsuitable for children.
What is happening: Shelters are overflowing. Border crossings are increasing. The Border Patrol facilities are overloaded. And the new government is under attack from both the left and the right in dealing with the harsh realities of the issue.
Where is it: President Biden’s advisers told him last week that the number of migrant children crossing the United States border without their parents this year is likely to far exceed the previous record.
- The federal government is taking custody of 321 migrant children per day, on average, and these numbers have skyrocketed throughout the year.
- As reported by Axios earlier this week, federal officials said they needed 20,000 beds to accommodate an expected increase in migrant children crossing the border. They have already opened new facilities and plan to adjust some protocols to accommodate more children, keeping everyone safe from the coronavirus.
What they are saying: Progressives look at the growing number of migrant children in temporary facilities, including tents, and see a betrayal of Biden’s promise to reverse Trump’s immigration policies. Some also say that the authorities are too quick to invoke the pandemic to quickly deport adults and some families.
- Conservatives look at the crushing of migrants and see the inevitable result of Biden ending many Trump policies, including the practice of expelling unaccompanied children and canceling agreements that allowed the U.S. to send some asylum seekers to Central America.
Between the lines: Families and children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador often make the dangerous journey to the border to escape gang violence, natural disasters or extreme poverty – only to reach a country that may not be equipped to process and care for them quickly. .
- Authorities need to balance real humanitarian needs and their duty to enforce immigration laws – and most laws have not changed in decades. The pandemic just made things more difficult.
- Migration flows are difficult to predict, but border systems and shelters do not always adapt quickly enough.
What to watch: There are still about three months to go from what is usually the peak season for migrants arriving at the border between the United States and Mexico. There is more that the Department of Health and Human Services can – and plans to do – to make room for more migrant children, but the projections are bleak.