Another day at Biden's border: Record 800 unaccompanied migrant children are apprehended in 24 hours, flights take migrants to Louisiana and 650 test COVID positive at Texas camp after entry
The crisis at the southern border continues to surge past unprecedented levels Friday as concerns over the influx of unaccompanied minors and others are compounded by COVID-19 fears - while Joe Biden heads to his home state of Delaware for the weekend.
The number of children under age 18 apprehended at the border was 834 on Thursday, according to Health and Human Services. The 30-day average is just 512.
Just 612 children in HHS custody were released to parents and guardians, meaning the total number of migrant children held by the US increased by more than 200.
More than 14,500 children are currently in HHS custody, and according to Fox there are 2,784 children in Border Patrol custody.
The rising figure is likely partially fueled by the Biden administration pulling back on the Trump-era Title 42 policy which under CDC direction enables Border Patrol to turn asylum-seekers away over COVID concerns.
More than 800 unaccompanied migrant children were met by Border Patrol in just 24 hours (pictured: Asylum seekers line up to be vaccinated in Baja California on August 3)
Biden has taken heat for his rollback of Trump-era border policies, which have coincided with an unprecedented influx of migrants at the southern border
While the policy was used on all migrants under Donald Trump, Biden's law enforcement authorities are admitting children and families with small children - expelling single adults and all but what Press Secretary Jen Psaki called 'a small, limited number of families.'
The number of children traveling alone who were picked up at the border reached an all-time high of more than 19,000 in July, according to preliminary numbers shared with the Associated Press by David Shahoulian, assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at DHS.
It's just a sign of a greater influx - 210,000 migrants crossed into the US along the southern border in July.
It's the highest one-month total in 21 years, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
A new report says encounters at the border reached 210,000 in July alone
The numbers from CBP show more migrants crossing in 2021 than recent years
More than 188,000 migrants were encountered by law enforcement in June - compared to 33,000 in June 2020.
Beyond the southern border migrants are being flown to places like Louisiana, where the Alexandria airport saw up to four flights a day arriving with migrant detainees last week, according to a local ABC affiliate.
All of the flights were operated by Swiftair and came from all over the country, the outlet's investigation uncovered - New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Virginia and Ohio.
The planes observed landing have capacities ranging between 149 and 162 passengers.
Those migrants are held at the Alexandria Staging Facility, which is run by a private prison firm that acts as an ICE contractor.
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy told the outlet he believes the area is used to hold migrants before they are flown out of the country.
An ICE-contracted plane brings migrants to Alexandria, Louisiana. A local news station observed four of these flights per day arriving last week
Those migrants are reportedly being held in Alexandria Staging Facility, run by a private prison firm that is contracted by ICE
Departure records reportedly show Swiftair flights flying to Jamaica and Honduras.
Along the Texas border towns and cities are grappling with the latest US COVID surge.
Hidalgo County and its city of McAllen have seen a surge in migrants. According to a video posted to Facebook by Mayor Javier Villalobos earlier this week, the number of migrants being sent to his city reached 1,800 per day - and 15 percent test COVID positive.
In a Thursday news conference Hidalgo officials said a temporary tent city to house COVID-positive migrants was moved from McAllen to Mission, Texas to be further away from residents who complained.
Officials reportedly said the area's initial capacity had to be expanded from 250 to 650, according to a CBS affiliate.
The temporary encampment had to be built when the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley - a nonprofit dedicated to helping migrants who cross the border - said they couldn't sustain the heavy influx of demand.
Migrants under a bridge in Hidalgo County. The area recently invoked a disaster declaration as local nonprofits buckle under the strain of more migrants than they have capacity for
The Biden administration announced it would subject migrant families to fast-tracked deportation to mitigate the surge (pictured: Migrants arrive at a checkpoint in the Rio Grande Valley on March 27)
McAllen and Hidalgo County both invoked disaster declarations over the surge in migrants being left there by CBP officials.
In an effort to try and mitigate the number of people coming from Central and South America, the Biden administration began flying Central American and Mexican families to southern Mexico under Title 42, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Nearly 200 Mexican and Central American family members were expelled deep into Mexico on Thursday in what are expected to be regular flights, the person said. The flights, which will include adults, aim to disrupt a pattern of repeat crossings.
The Biden administration also announced last week that it would subject migrant families to a fast-track deportation process known as 'expedited removal' to their home countries from U.S. detention centers.
The expulsion flights to southern Mexico will be faster than that process, the person familiar with the situation said.
Pro-migrant groups on Monday restarted litigation that aims to stop the Biden administration from expelling families under Title 42, which the administration renewed that day.
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