Asylum seekers in El Paso, Texas, USA from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico on March 17, 2021.
More than 3,600 migrant children were in U.S. border facilities on the morning of Thursday, March 11, a sign of a growing humanitarian and political crisis for President Joe Biden’s administration.
The number of unaccompanied children, mostly from Central America, arriving at the US-Mexico border has grown rapidly in recent weeks, with more children trapped in border patrol posts awaiting transfer to emergency services. increasingly overcrowded federal shelters and ultimately to be entrusted to their parents or other sponsors.
Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, March 17, 2021.
Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, March 17, 2021.
Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, March 17, 2021.
Sonia, a migrant from Honduras seeking asylum, walks a dirt road with her three children Jefferson, 9, Scarlet, 7, and David, 6, after crossing the Rio Grande in the United States from the Mexico on a raft in Peñitas, Texas, U.S. March 16, 2021.
Border crossings were built to house adult males for short periods of time and could pose a COVID-19 risk to children and staff if they remain overcrowded.
In early March, U.S. health officials lifted coronavirus capacity restrictions at unaccompanied minors shelters to ease the pressure, but beds are filling up quickly.
Guatemalan children Marvin (left) and Brando watch from their baby carriers after crossing the Rio Grande with their Mexican mothers on a raft in Peñitas, Texas. USA March 17, 2021.
Families and unaccompanied minors from Central America walk towards the border wall after crossing the Rio Grande to the United States from Mexico on rafts, in Peñitas, Texas, United States, March 17, 2021.
In Peñitas, Texas, United States, March 17, 2021.
Republicans attacked Biden for overturning Trump’s harsh policies, claiming his administration encouraged illegal immigration. At the same time, Democrats criticized Biden for upholding certain Trump policies and for reopening an emergency shelter in Texas that had been used under the previous administration.
The income resembles previous waves of unaccompanied minors and families in 2014 and 2019, according to officials and experts. The more than 3,600 children in the custody of CBP (Customs and Border Protection) rose from 800 detainees on February 22.
Mayra, a 17-year-old Guatemalan asylum-seeking mother, carries her 13-month-old son, Marvin, after crossing the Rio Grande to the United States from Mexico on a raft in Penitas, Texas, United States, March 17 2021.
Johnny, a Honduran asylum-seeker father, carries his five-year-old daughter Jennica after crossing the Rio Grande to the United States from Mexico on a raft in Penitas, Texas, United States, March 17, 2021.
Mayra, a 17-year-old Guatemalan asylum-seeking mother, carries her 13-month-old son, Marvin, after crossing the Rio Grande to the United States from Mexico on a raft in Penitas, Texas, United States, March 17 2021.
Penitas, Texas, U.S. March 17, 2021.
The footprints of dozens of migrant asylum seekers are seen on a dirt road after crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States from Mexico on a raft, in Penitas, Texas, United States, March 17, 2021 .
Asylum-seeking mothers in Guatemala carry their children after crossing the Rio Grande. March 17, 2021.
Taznari, a three-year-old Honduran asylum-seeking girl, holds her mother’s hand as they walk on a dirt road after crossing the United States from Mexico on a raft in Peñitas, Texas. USA March 16, 2021.
A U.S. Border Patrol officer gives instructions to migrant asylum seekers as they line up along the border wall after crossing the United States from Mexico on a raft, in Penitas, Texas, States United, March 17, 2021.
The Biden administration has discussed with Central American countries the possibility of detaining migrants and trying to interview asylum seekers in their own countries, a Democrat said on Thursday on Capitol Hill. Speaker of the House of Commons, Nancy Pelosi.
The Biden administration announced Wednesday, March 10, that it would relaunch a program cut by Trump that will allow certain Central American children whose parents are legally living in the United States to apply for refugee status from their home country.
A dozen Republicans led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will travel to the US-Mexico border in Texas on Monday to deal with what they call a serious crisis. (Reporting by Ted Hesson and David Morgan in Washington, additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York, edited in Spanish by Manuel Farías)
A U.S. Border Patrol officer treats unaccompanied minors seeking asylum while family units are sidelined after some 70 migrants crossed into the United States from Mexico on a raft in Penitas, Texas, States United. March 17, 2021.
Unaccompanied minors from Central America line up for treatment by U.S. Border Patrol officers after crossing into the United States from Mexico on a raft in Penitas, Texas, United States, March 17, 2021.
Cherie, a one-year-old migrant from Honduras, sleeps on her mother’s arm after crossing the Rio Grande to the United States from Mexico on a raft in Penitas, Texas on March 16, 2021.
Maribel, a Central American migrant asylum seeker who said she was nine months pregnant, is ready to be transported by the US border patrol to a local hospital after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States from the Mexico on a raft in Penitas, Texas, USA on March 16, 2021.
The hands of migrant asylum-seeking children cling to the border wall as they wait to be transported to a treatment center by U.S. Border Patrol officers. Peñitas. Texas, United States, March 17, 2021.
Photos: Reuters.