Arrests of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children at Sou
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WASHINGTON—The number of unaccompanied immigrant children arrested for crossing the U.S. southern border illegally is on pace to rise more than 50% in February compared with the previous month, people familiar with the matter said, raising the prospect of a humanitarian crisis there.
About 2,200 children have been illegally crossing the border weekly in February, and the pace is picking up as the month progresses, some of the people said. The government is projecting that about 9,000 children will be taken into custody by the end of February.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported taking 5,707 unaccompanied children into custody in January, an 18% rise from the previous month. The growing number of children in custody is beginning to strain the government’s ability to properly house and care for them.
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment. CBP said it wouldn’t share the specific number of unaccompanied children detained outside of the monthly totals, saying the figure was a sensitive law enforcement matter, and added that it was continuing to prioritize the processing of the children ahead of other migrants.
The Biden administration has been seeking to avoid a repeat of the humanitarian border crises in 2014 and 2019 when waves of unaccompanied migrant children and families overwhelmed federal facilities.