Number of unaccompanied minors crossing border spikes in a month
- Over 10K unaccompanied children in HHS custody compared to over 7K in July
- Agents say migrants discard papers to hide history, boost asylum chances
- Majority of the children are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador
Migrants trying to enter the U.S. from Mexico approach the site where workers are assembling large buoys to be used as a border barrier along the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. The floating barrier is being deployed in an effort to block migrants from entering Texas from Mexico. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
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TEMPE, Ariz. (NewsNation) — The number of unaccompanied children arriving at the southern border is at its peak since December 2022.
According to federal statistics, there was a 73% rise in unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border compared to June.
The Biden administration aimed for transparency by initiating daily emails of data on minors crossing the border alone through the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since February. However, reporting ceased on Aug. 11, with a 12-day gap in figures.
The data has resumed after nearly two weeks, revealing there are now more than 10,000 unaccompanied children in the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement custody. This is a significant increase from one month ago, when there were only 7,502 children in custody.
Agents told NewsNation that migrants are choosing to discard their papers, possibly to avoid revealing any criminal history to enhance their chances of receiving asylum by appearing undocumented.
These discarded documents often demonstrate a level of stability that could actually reduce their chances of entering the U.S.
For instance, NewsNation’s Border Report team came across Brazilian passports abandoned by three children, aged 14, 12, and 5, who appear to be siblings based on their names.
DNA testing, as revealed during the congressional hearing with HHS Secretary Becerra, isn’t obligatory. The documentation that could verify their identities or relationships was left in Mexico.
Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, the director of Arizona State University’s Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research, highlights that families are desperate and are acting on the current message to send their children over.
“That really shows me the desperation of families, right, that they’re willing to give up that one document that gives them a name, and a right and a country,” Roe-Sepowitz said. “I mean, think of the sacrifice that those families are making, believing that the U.S. is such a better deal and such a better hope for their family that they’re willing to give up that fundamental human right of name, and place and country.”
The data released shows that the majority of the children being counted are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
NewsNation reached out to HHS multiple times in the past two weeks without receiving a response.
