The number of migrant children and families seeking to cross the US-Mexico border has increased to levels not seen since before the coronavirus pandemic – a challenge for Joe Biden as he works to undo the hardline immigration policies of predecessor Donald Trump.
Statistics released Wednesday by US customs and border protection (CBP) showed the number of children and families increased by more than 100% between January and February.
Children crossing by themselves rose 60% to more than 9,400, forcing the government to look for new places to hold them temporarily.
Roberta Jacobson, the administration’s coordinator for the southern border and a former ambassador to Mexico, joined the White House press briefing on Wednesday.
She said the president is committed to building a fair immigration system, but cannot undo the damage of the Trump administration “overnight”.
She sidestepped a question about whether the situation at the border qualifies as a crisis.
“Whatever you call it wouldn’t change what we’re doing,” Jacobson said.
The secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, previously said he does not consider the situation to be a crisis, which sparked intense criticism among Republicans, including Trump.
But Jacobson said: “Surges tend to respond to hope. There was a hope for a more humane policy.”
She also argued that the election of Biden allowed human smugglers to spread disinformation about migrants’ ability to enter the US immediately.
“The border is not open,” Jacobson said and urged undocumented people not to make the dangerous journey.
The Biden administration is turning back nearly all single adults, who make up the majority of border-crossers, under a public health order imposed by Trump at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
And the administration is temporarily holding children and families, mostly from Central America, in government and private facilities for several days while it evaluates claims for asylum or determines if they have any other legal right to stay in the US.
Republicans have argued that migrants are drawn by incentives such as the immigration bill backed by Biden and many Democrats that would offer a path to citizenship for millions of people living unlawfully in the US.
“We’re seeing a surge of unaccompanied children coming across the border. Why? Joe Biden promised amnesty,” Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, tweeted.
There were nearly 29,000 family units or unaccompanied minors in February. The last time it was higher was in October 2019.
Biden officials have faced mounting questions about the temporary detention of migrant families, an issue that the two previous presidents had to deal with because of the instability in the region.
Jacobson said the administration is asking Congress for $4bn for targeted aid to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
“Only by addressing those root causes can we break the cycle of desperation and provide hope for families who clearly would prefer to stay in their countries and provide a better future for their children,” she told reporters at the White House.
Jacobson said the US is also restoring a program, ended under Trump, that reunited children in the three Central American countries with parents who are legal residents in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security has also begun processing the asylum claims of thousands of people who were forced by the Trump administration to stay in Mexico, often in dangerous conditions for a long time, for a decision on their case.
A migrant camp that formed in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, in south-east Texas, recently was emptied of migrants as they were allowed into the US to process their immigration or asylum claims.