Joe Biden's administration faces mounting criticism for refusing to allow outside observers into facilities where it is detaining thousands of immigrant children
Credit: Office of Rep. Henry Cuellar via AP
New pictures have laid bare the conditions in which thousands of migrants are being held in makeshift tents as US officials struggle to cope with the scale of the numbers arriving on its southern border.
The photographs showed the crowded conditions in a makeshift processing centre in Donna, Texas, over the weekend, where hundreds of boys and teenagers who travelled to the US alone were being held.
The young men were sleeping on thin matts in rows on the floor with foil blankets and a single TV shared between each section.
The photographs were provided by Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar, who represents a Texas border town, and first shared with the political website Axios.
The photographs reveal the crowded, makeshift conditions at the border
Credit: Courtesy of Rep. Henry Cuellar
Mr Cuellar, who has publicly criticised the Biden administration’s handling of the border situation, said he was sharing the pictures to raise awareness about the situation since journalists have been largely blocked from entering the facilities.
The facility in Donna is divided into eight "pods" which are divided by thin clear plastic sheets and can hold up to 250 people each. But as of Sunday, Mr Cuellar said one pod held more than 400 unaccompanied male minors.
The congressman described it as "terrible conditions for the children" and said moving them into the care of the Department of Health and Human Services was an urgent priority. Mr Cuellar did not tour the Donna facility or take the photos himself, but did recently visit another shelter for children.
Lawyers who recently met with children at the facility in Donna have also reported severe overcrowding and said the youngsters are given very limited outdoors in a courtyard.
Each of eight "pods" in the so-called soft-sided facility has a 260-person occupancy
Credit: Courtesy of Rep. Henry Cuellar
What is going on at the border?
In recent weeks border officials have seen a huge increase in the numbers of migrants — mostly from Central America — who are attempting to enter the US along its southern border with Mexico.
In particular, there has been a massive surge in unaccompanied minors travelling to the border, in some cases children as young as six years old.
The number has taken the US government by surprise, and facilities which had limited their capacity during the coronavirus pandemic were completely overwhelmed. As of Saturday, there were 10,000 migrants in the custody of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). Nearly half of these are unaccompanied minors.
To cope with the demand for space, officials have set up temporary overflow facilities to house people while they process their cases. But many facilities are still severely stretched, leading to thousands being held in poor conditions and creating a humanitarian emergency on the border.
There is particular concern about the thousands of children who are being held in these detention centres, with some reports suggesting more than 3,000 minors are being held in custody longer than the 72-hour legal limit.
Why has there been an increase?
Experts say it is normal to see an increase in border crossings at the start of a new administration, as well as before the intense heat of the summer months. Border officials witnessed a spike in the numbers of migrants arriving shortly before Donald Trump’s inauguration, and there were also surges in 2014 and 2019.
The crippling economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as severe hurricanes which displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua have also contributed.
But many believe the biggest driver is the policies and rhetoric of the Biden administration. Mr Biden came into office pledging to reverse Mr Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and this has encouraged many to make the journey through Mexico in the hope of receiving better treatment than they would have under the previous administration.
Indeed, many of the migrants The Telegraph spoke to during a recent trip to the border cited Mr Biden’s welcoming comments about immigration as a factor in their decision.
What is the Biden administration doing?
The Biden administration maintains that the border is closed due to the pandemic, but it has suspended several Trump-era policies aimed at curbing the numbers coming into the US and is permitting a growing number of unaccompanied children and families to enter.
For example, Mr Biden has ended the Trump administration’s "remain in Mexico" policy, under which asylum-seekers were held in camps in Mexico while their asylum cases were processed. Thousands of those waiting in the camps were allowed into the US in the last few weeks while their cases go through the system.
A migrant family that had crossed over the Rio Bravo in El Paso, Texas
Credit: REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
Unaccompanied children are also being allowed to enter the US, as well as most families travelling with children aged six and under.
With the crisis growing, the White House dispatched some of its most senior officials to Mexico and Guatemala on Monday to discuss how to contain the humanitarian challenge.
The White House is also reportedly considering flying migrants to other facilities, for instance those on the Canadian border, to relieve the strain on facilities in the south.
Mr Biden is coming under intense pressure to visit the border himself.
Biden’s mixed messaging has cost him dearly
The border situation is the first major test of Mr Biden’s presidency, and he will need to get the situation rapidly under control if his party is to do well in the 2022 midterm elections.
The White House’s mixed messaging on the subject has been blamed for sowing confusion and feeding the crisis. Mr Biden’s criticism of the Trump administration and his pledge to end the hard-line policies of his predecessor created the perception that migrants would be given an easier route into the US. The US president also gave assurances that unaccompanied children would be given care. People traffickers have fed this narrative to persuade people that now is a good time to leave their homes.
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The US has placed more than 17,000 radio adverts in Spanish, Portuguese and various indigenous languages to discourage US-bound migration, but some say it is too late to contend with the people smugglers’ propaganda.
The challenge has overshadowed Mr Biden’s recent success in passing a massive $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill, and threatens to derail the rest of his ambitious agenda.
It has also a complicated political situation, with Mr Biden being criticised from across the spectrum. Moderate Democrats fear being labelled as soft on border security. Progressives within the party are furious at the use of detention centres for children, and have fiercely criticised the conditions on the border. Republicans, who were previously scrambling to find an issue with which to lampoon the president, have arranged press conferences on the border to accuse Mr Biden of encouraging illegal immigration.
Mr Biden’s dilemma is his promise of a more humane approach to migrants has contributed to the humanitarian emergency unfolding on the border. His challenge now is to find a solution that appeases progressives and conservative Democrats alike.
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