U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
“The message is pretty clear, don’t come. The border is closed, the border is secure,” Mayorkas said in an interview with ABC News.
“We encourage kids not to come. Now is not the Time, don’t come, the journey is dangerous. We’re building safe, orderly and humane ways to address the needs of vulnerable children. Don’t come.” , Mayorkas added, “Don’t leave your town, city or community.”
As of Saturday, the U.S. government had taken in about 15,500 unaccompanied minor immigrants, including 5,000 teens and children, who were housed in Border Patrol facilities that do not have permanent custody, CBS News reported.
The media outlet noted that Border Patrol facilities house migrants for an average of 136 hours, exceeding the 72-hour limit.
Mayorkas said the U.S. has seen large numbers of immigrants in the past and the government knows how to address the situation.
“We know how to address the problem. We have a plan, we’re implementing our plan and we’re going to succeed. That’s what we’re doing.” Mayorkas said.
However, in an interview with NBC, Mayorkas reiterated that while the Biden administration will continue to deport families and single adults who are in the country illegally, it will not deport unaccompanied minor immigrants.
Noting that the Communist virus (Wuhan pneumonia) pandemic has exacerbated overcrowding concerns at border facilities, Mayorkas said the administration is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of health and Human Services (HHS) to build temporary facilities to send unaccompanied minors out of border patrol stations.
In response to the border crisis, which has seen a surge in immigration, former President Trump issued a statement Sunday criticizing President Biden’s border policy, calling it a “national disaster.
Trump said his administration handed Biden “the most secure border in history,” only to turn it into a disaster in a matter of weeks after Biden reversed most of the Trump Administration‘s policies through an executive order.
He said the executive orders have allowed undocumented immigrants to enter the United States while waiting for asylum applications and have left thousands of unaccompanied children in shelters.
“They have to finish the wall immediately, and that can be done in a matter of weeks,” Trump said, adding, “They should never have stopped it, and they are causing death and human tragedy.”
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Okla.), who recently visited the southern border, said, “It’s shocking to see how many people, including unaccompanied children, are crossing the border illegally.”
He added, “The number of migrants trying to cross the border in the short time we’ve been there is shocking. One young person admitted that they will never stop trying to find a way across the border.”
According to Customs and Border Protection, they processed 100,441 cases in February, a 28 percent increase from January. Of those, 19,246 were Family members, 9,457 were unaccompanied children and 71,598 were single adults.
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