As of Sunday, there were 3,130 children in the custody of CBP, an agency not intended to provide for children for long periods of time, down from the peak – 5,767 on March 28 – since the government began providing data. indicating progress in relieving border patrol posts.
However, the mean time in CBP custody for unaccompanied migrant children is still well above the legal limit of 72 hours and hovers around 122 hours, according to data obtained by CNN.
In recent days, officials have transferred an increasing number of children from CBP custody to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees a migrant child shelter network and has opened a series of pop-up sites for domestic children until they can be released to a sponsor , such as a parent or relative, in the United States.
As a result, the number of children under HHS custody has grown: as of Sunday, there were 18,027 children under HHS custody.
“What we do every day is, ‘Okay, where are we? How many people came in today? Where are they going? How many beds do we have? What are any blocks in the system to get kids out of the system? their parents? “, a White House official previously told CNN.” It’s a million little things that are helping to increase this flow of children. “
The daily cost per child is more than double that of the department’s already existing daycare program – about $ 775 per day, compared to about $ 290 per day – according to figures shared with CNN. HHS cited the need to develop facilities and hire staff in a short period of time as one of the reasons temporary shelters are more expensive.