DHS Sec’y Mayorkas: Unaccompanied Minor Numbers ‘Remain High’

On Monday’s “CBS This Morning,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated that while they may not be as high as the “extraordinarily high” numbers of March, the number of unaccompanied children who crossed the border remained “high” in April.

Mayorkas said, “We made a very important decision that we would not continue to expel unaccompanied children as the Trump administration did. In late March, you are correct, the numbers were extraordinarily high. And we had over 5,700 young children, unaccompanied children, in the custody of the Border Patrol. Now, as of yesterday, we had under 700. It’s an extraordinary achievement, and it speaks of the commitment and capabilities of the men and women at the Department of Homeland Security and the teamwork with Health and Human Services.”

Co-host Tony Dokoupil then asked, “Does that reflect a reduction in the number of people coming over the border, or just an increase in how quickly you can move people out of your custody into Health and Human Services’ custody and then to sponsors?”

Mayorkas responded, “So, we don’t have the April numbers yet. We should have those cumulatively within a day or two. The numbers remain high, whether they are as high as March is yet undetermined. But it really speaks to the reengineering and operationalizing of the process. I said in March that we have a plan, we’re executing on the plan, and that it takes time. We are seeing those results in just 30 days.”

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