[ad_1]
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will help shelter and transfer a record number of migrant children arriving at the US-Mexico border, the Homeland Security Secretary said on Saturday,
While President Joe Biden’s administration has avoided calling the situation a national emergency as former President Donald Trump declared in 2019, it has acknowledged a growing number of border “meetings” since April.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said FEMA will help foundlings at the border avoid being treated as customs and border protection detainees and hand them over to the Ministry of Justice more quickly. Health and Social Services.
From there, he said, the children could be placed with a family member or sponsor until their immigration cases are processed.
“I have said it several times, a border patrol facility is not a place for a child,” Mayorkas said in a statement.
FEMA will find and develop child-friendly facilities, the Department of Homeland Security said, and accompanied adults and children will continue to be returned to Mexico.
Homeland security officials said the volunteers would also be part of efforts to find shelter for migrant children.
So many unaccompanied minors presented themselves at the border at the end of winter that some observers believe that a new humanitarian crisis could be brewing.
More than 3,200 unaccompanied migrant children are being accommodated in customs and border protection detention facilities, NBC News reported on Monday. More than half were held in “coolers” not intended for children because detainees can only be held in cells for a maximum of three days.
Geoff bennett contributed.
[ad_2]
Source link