DHS: Growing trend of migrant children abandoned at border
- Texas DPS rescued two abandoned migrant children in Eagle Pass
- Families often send children knowing they will likely be let into the U.S.
- Today, more than 10,000 unaccompanied children are in custody
Testing widget old system
(NewsNation) — The Texas Department of Public Safety rescued two abandoned migrant children at the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, amid a spike in unaccompanied children being sent over the border.
The Texas DPS found a note on the migrant children with an Alabama address on it.
Migrant families who fear deportation often send their children to the border alone knowing they will most likely be let into the country.
But the growing trend of smugglers leaving children at the border as soon as they reach the U.S. has federal officials concerned, given the brutal conditions at the southern border with triple-digit heat.
Today, more than 10,000 unaccompanied children are in the custody of Health and Human Services. Last month, officials registered around 7,500 unaccompanied children.
According to Homeland Security, more than 600,000 unaccompanied children have been released into the U.S. with no immigration court dates since 2012.
But some immigration advocates say they’re worried children are being released to sponsors who exploit them for child labor.
The Biden administration is turning a smaller percentage of asylum seekers back to Mexico according to a new NBC report. The report found nearly a thousand migrants have been sent back across the border since the end of Title 42 in May. This is a drastic change from the nearly 3,000 migrants sent back each day in April.
