Biden weighs family detention at border
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas acknowledged Tuesday the Biden administration is considering a plan to reinstate immigration detention centers for migrant families, but he played down the proposal as one of several under discussion in anticipation of a potential spike in border crossings this spring.
“No decision has been made with respect to the detention of families,” Mayorkas told CNN’S Christiane Amanpour, saying he has encouraged DHS officials to place “all options on the table.”
“Great, good, bad, terrible,” he said. “Let us discuss them, and many will be left on the cutting-room floor.”
Mayorkas’ statements came a day after the New York Times and others reported the administration is debating whether to reverse its previous position — framed as a moral decision — that families should not be held in immigration custody. Biden officials have previously touted their moves to close or repurpose three U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities for families as evidence of a commitment to a more humane approach at the U.s.-mexico border. But Homeland Security and the White House are rethinking that decision as they prepare to lift pandemic-related border restrictions May 11, according to four officials involved in the discussions. The pandemic measures, known as Title 42, have been used to rapidly expel more than 2 million migrants since March 2020, and DHS officials expect illegal border crossings — at record levels under Biden — will go higher once the pandemic measures end.
Immigrant advocacy groups that saw victory in Biden’s move to end family detention say they are incensed. But the administration’s reconsideration of family detention signals the extent to which Biden officials appear willing to absorb blowback from liberal Democrats to reduce illegal crossings and boost the president’s ratings on border issues.