Number of unaccompanied migrant kids in U.S. Border Patrol custody hitting record high: data

2021-03-09 06:06:02 GMT2021-03-09 14:06:02(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The number of unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. Border Patrol facilities has exceeded 3,200 and thus hit a new high, according to internal agency documents dated on Monday.

Among them, some 2,600 were awaiting placement in shelters suitable for minors, but there were just over 500 beds available to accommodate them, said a CNN report.

Furthermore, nearly 170 unaccompanied children stuck in Border Patrol custody are under the age of 13, according to the documents.

The data reveals the continued bottleneck in the U.S. immigration system, with more migrant children coming into custody than the U.S. government is prepared to care for, local analysts say. 

| PRINT | RSS