HOUSTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s administration is instructing long-term facilities that keep child immigrants to remove capacity restrictions enacted during the coronavirus pandemic to open much-needed beds in a system that faces ever-increasing needs.
A memo issued Friday by the US Department of Health and Human Services tells service providers to “temporarily increase capacity to full licensed capacity … while implementing and adhering to strict COVID-19 mitigation measures.” It is not immediately clear how many beds will be available, in addition to the nearly 7,000 that were online last month. HHS’s fully licensed capacity was over 13,000 beds last year.
Some facilities reduced their capacity in half during the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, hundreds of children waiting to be placed on the HHS system are being detained by the United States Border Patrol in tents or large cold cells not equipped to contain minors. Images and stories of crowded Border Patrol cells in 2018-2019 generated outrage, with reports from families and children defending themselves without adequate food and water.
Raising the limits related to the pandemic may increase the risk of spreading the coronavirus within the HHS facility, especially since many more children enter the system. But the organizations that manage the HHS facilities and some advocates have been pushing for more beds to be made available if done safely, rather than the alternative of keeping children on the Border Patrol facilities for longer or placing them in expensive, unlicensed emergency centers.
“Given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no 0% risk scenario, particularly in crowded environments,” says the memo, first reported by CNN. “Therefore, ORR facilities must plan and expect to have COVID-19 cases.”
HHS previously authorized facility operators to charge government travel expenses when a child is released to parents or another sponsor. Some families cannot easily pay hundreds of dollars to bring a child and a guardian, and disputes over payment can sometimes delay a child’s release for several days.
Agents are apprehending about 400 children a day, unaccompanied by their parents or guardian, a sharp increase since last month. There are concerns that these numbers will continue to rise.
Biden ended a practice by former President Donald Trump to expel unaccompanied children under a public health declaration enacted during the pandemic, although his government continues to expel immigrant families and adults. Some former Trump administration officials have accused Biden of inspiring immigrants to try to enter the United States illegally, although the numbers under Biden’s government have not approached the peak with that of Trump.
The practice of expelling children has been severely criticized and has often led them back to dangerous situations without giving them the chance to seek asylum or speak to a lawyer. The Associated Press reported that the underlying public health statement was issued under pressure of former Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump issued a statement on Friday alleging that “the border is now totally out of control thanks to Joe Biden’s disastrous leadership.”
“We did not follow our advice or advice from ex-President Trump on immigration policy, which has not only been inhumane, but ineffective for the past four years,” responded White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday. “We will chart our own path forward, and that includes treating children with humanity and respect and ensuring that they are safe when they cross our borders.”
In recent days, Biden has also been criticized by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other Republicans for the release of immigrant families in South Texas. Border authorities have stopped expelling families with young children from some Texas cities due to a change in policy in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. In several cities, local governments and advocacy groups test newly released families for COVID-19 and direct people with the virus to shelters or hotel rooms reserved for them.