HOUSTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s administration is instructing long-term facilities that force immigrant children to lift capacity restrictions enacted during the coronavirus pandemic to open much-needed beds in a system facing increasing needs.
A note issued Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tells service providers to “temporarily increase capacity to full license … while implementing and complying with strict COVID-19 mitigation measures.” It is unclear how many beds will be available beyond the 7,000 that were online last month. HHS’s fully authorized capacity was more than 13,000 beds at the end of last year.
Some facilities have halved their capacity during the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, hundreds of children waiting to be placed in the HHS system are being detained by the U.S. Border Patrol in tent facilities or large cold cells and unquipped to accommodate minors. The images and stories of border patrol cells full in 2018 and 2019 sparked outrage, with stories of families and young children defending themselves without adequate food and water.
Lifting pandemic-related plugs could increase the risk of coronavirus spread to HHS facilities, especially when there are more children in the system. But organizations running HHS facilities and some advocates have pushed for more beds to be made available. if done safely, rather than the alternative of keeping children in border patrol facilities longer or placing them in expensive, unlicensed emergency centers.
“Given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no 0% risk scenario, especially in congregated settings,” the note says, first reported by CNN. “Therefore, ORR facilities should plan and expect to have cases of COVID-19.”
HHS has previously authorized facility operators to bill the government for 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 freedom for several days.
Officers detain about 400 children a day unaccompanied by parents or guardians, a sharp rise since last month. There is concern that these figures will continue to rise.
Biden ended a practice under Donald Trump’s term of expulsion of unaccompanied children according to a public health statement enacted during the pandemic, although its administration continues to expel immigrant families and adults. Some former Trump administration officials have accused Biden of inspiring immigrants to try to enter the United States illegally, although Biden’s figures have not reached their peak under Trump.
The practice of expelling children was harshly criticized and often put them back 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 was issued under pressure of former Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump issued a statement Friday alleging that “the border is now completely out of control thanks to the disastrous leadership of Joe Biden.”
“We don’t take our advice or advice from former President Trump on immigration policy, which has not only been inhumane but ineffective for the past four years,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded Friday. “We are going to chart our own path forward, and that includes treating children with humanity and respect and ensuring that they are safe when they cross our borders.”
In recent days, Biden has also been criticized by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans for releasing immigrant families in South Texas. Border authorities have stopped expelling families with young children from some Texas cities due to a policy change in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. In several cities, local governments and advocacy groups are testing COVID-19 on newly released families and directing people with the virus to shelters or hotel rooms intended for them.