HOUSTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s administration is instructing long-term facilities detaining immigrant children to lift capacity constraints set during the coronavirus pandemic to open much-needed beds in a system of greatly increasing needs.
A memo released Friday by the US Department of Health and Human Services tells service providers to “temporarily increase capacity to full licensed capacity … while implementing and enforcing strict COVID-19 restrictions.” It is not immediately clear how many beds will become available after the approximately 7,000 that were online last month. The fully licensed capacity of HHS at the end of last year was more than 13,000 beds.
Some facilities reduced their capacity by as much as half during the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, hundreds of children waiting to be placed in the HHS system are being held by the US Border Patrol in tent facilities or large, cold cells that are not equipped to hold minors. Images and stories of packed Border Patrol cells in 2018 and 2019 sparked outrage, with stories of families and young children having to fend for themselves without enough food and water.
Removing pandemic-related caps could increase the risk of the coronavirus spreading within HHS facilities, especially as many more children are entering the system. But the organizations that run HHS facilities and some attorneys have pushed for more beds to be made available if done safely, rather than the alternative of keeping kids in Border Patrol facilities longer or putting them in costly unlicensed emergency centers.
“Given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no 0% risk scenario, especially in congregations,” says the memo, first reported by CNN. “Therefore, MRO facilities should plan for and expect to receive COVID-19 cases.”
HHS has previously authorized facility operators to charge government travel expenses when a child is released to a parent or other sponsor. Some families cannot easily afford the hundreds of dollars to fly a child and a guardian, and disputes over payment can sometimes delay a child’s release by several days.
Police arrest about 400 children every day without a parent or guardian, a sharp increase since last month. There are concerns that those numbers will continue to rise.
Biden ended a practice under former President Donald Trump of deporting unaccompanied children under a public health statement issued 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 enter the US illegally, even though the numbers under Biden have not reached their peak under Trump.
The practice of deporting children was sharply criticized and often put them in dangerous situations without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum or talk to a lawyer. The Associated Press has reported that the underlying public health statement has been issued under pressure from former Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump released a statement on Friday claiming that “the border is now completely out of control thanks to Joe Biden’s disastrous leadership.”
“We are not taking our advice or counsel from former President Trump on immigration policy, which has been not only inhumane but also ineffective for the past four years,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday. “We’re going to map out our own way forward, which includes treating children with humanity and respect and making sure 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 over a policy change in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. In several cities, local governments and advocacy groups are testing newly released families for COVID-19 and directing those with the virus to shelters or hotel rooms reserved for them.