WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – Congressional Republicans are unifying around criticism of the Biden administration’s management of the southern border as America sees an influx of migrants, including children.
A record number of unaccompanied migrant children are in Border Patrol custody, more than 3,200, with nearly half held beyond the legal three-day limit. And those facilities are not designed to house children, especially during a pandemic.
NBC News reports that the number of unaccompanied migrant children crossing into the United States in February spiked to over 9,000.
Republicans are calling the crisis one of President Biden’s own making while Democrats say the administration is focused on compassion as opposed to Trump-era family separations.
Chair of the House Republican Caucus Liz Cheney (R-WY) said, “Policy has consequences. When you say you’re not going to enforce our immigration laws, when you say that you’re not going to build a border wall it has consequences. And we’re seeing the tragic consequences of that right now at the border.”
“This is a process, what the Biden administration is doing, that will be rooted in compassion. So that’s the difference,” Representative Pete Aguilar (D-CA) said. “What we saw in the Trump administration was intentional child separation and no effort to reunite families. And so now we have now turned the page and individuals who are claiming lawful asylum will be viewed just that way. There is a process for this, and the Biden administration will move towards that process. And we will hold them accountable just like we did the prior administration to ensure that they are following the law.”
The Biden administration is deploying immigration officials to southern border facilities and working to speed up moving children into the homes of sponsors or families and they’re working to expand HHS facilities to house more of the children.
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