Over 20,000 Unaccompanied Migrant Minors Remain In US Centers

Currently, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) oversees about 4,200 unaccompanied children and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has custody of over 16,000 children.

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To alleviate overcrowding at Border Patrol facilities, President Joe Biden's administration seeks to transfer children to HHS centers. In addition, authorities are seeking to reduce the time it takes to release the children to a family member residing in the U.S. 

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki acknowledged that the number of children arriving at the border exceeds the capacity of the facilities to accommodate them.

The Biden administration is reviewing the files of thousands of families that were separated during the term of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021). In these files, however, there are numerous errors and contradictions that make it difficult to reunite the children with their families.

So far, human rights organizations have been unable to locate at least 445 parents of migrant children separated from their families upon arrival at the border during the Trump Administration.

On Wednesday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador held a virtual meeting with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on the immigration issue.

Both agreed on a plan to protect migrant children, combat human trafficking, and improve the living conditions of the population in southern Mexico.