San Francisco Chronicle

In major reversal, Biden weighs detaining migrant families

- By Colleen Long and Elliot Spagat

WASHINGTON — The Biden administra­tion is considerin­g detaining migrant families who cross into the U.S. illegally as it prepares to end COVID-19 restrictio­ns at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to U.S. officials familiar with the plans. That would be a major reversal after officials in late 2021 stopped holding families in detention facilities.

Homeland Security officials are working through how to manage an expected increase of migrants at the border once the COVID-19 restrictio­ns that have been in place since 2020 are lifted in May. Detention is one of several ideas under discussion and nothing has been finalized, the officials said.

If families were detained, they would be held for short periods of time, perhaps just a few days, and their cases expedited through immigratio­n court, one official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on “rumors” that the policy was under considerat­ion. “I’m not saying that it is, I’m not saying that it’s not,” she said. She refused to say whether President Joe Biden believed that detention of families was humane.

Under current policy, families who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border are released into the U.S. and told to appear in immigratio­n court at a later date. During the height of the pandemic, few families were held in custody, and U.S. Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t officials are now using those facilities to hold single adults who cross the border illegally.

The suggestion to again detain families was met with disdain from immigratio­n advocates, who point to studies that show how detrimenta­l detention can be for children and families. Many said they were surprised to hear of the possibilit­y because they had been told families would no longer be detained.

“We implore the administra­tion to reject this shameful, retrograde practice,” said Sergio Gonzales, executive director of the Immigratio­n Hub.

In 2020, Biden himself said in a tweet: “Children should be released from ICE detention with their parents immediatel­y. This is pretty simple, and I can’t believe I have to say it: Families belong together.”

Illegal border crossings plummeted after Biden announced Jan. 5 that Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguan­s and Venezuelan­s would be returned to Mexico if they crossed illegally. The Border Patrol stopped migrants 128,410 times on the Mexican border in January, down 42 percent from December, which was the highest month on record.

Last month, the administra­tion said it would generally deny asylum to migrants who show up at the U.S. southern border without first seeking protection in a country they passed through, mirroring an attempt by the Trump administra­tion that never took effect because it was blocked in court.

But most of these efforts do not include families, which are treated differentl­y because of the children traveling. But parents who fear detention may also start sending their children alone, and the number of unaccompan­ied migrants is also rising.

“I’m alarmed by news reports that the administra­tion is considerin­g reinstatin­g family detention policies,” said Bennie Thompson, D-Miss, the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee. “Not only are these policies cruel and harmful to children, but they don’t prevent families from traveling to the United States.”

The administra­tion has the capacity to house roughly 3,000 people in two family detention centers in Texas — Karnes City and Dilley, Texas. Families would likely be held again in Dilley, which was used to detain families during the Obama and Trump administra­tions.

Both the Obama and Trump administra­tions detained families in those facilities until their immigratio­n cases played out, though a court order prevents the government from holding children beyond 20 days. A third detention center in Pennsylvan­ia was shut down a few months ago.

Jean-Pierre pushed back against criticism that Biden was reinstatin­g some of the policies of former President Donald Trump, who, among the major changes he made to the immigratio­n system, severely curbed asylum and forcibly separated children from their parents at the border in a policy denounced worldwide as inhumane.

“A lot of people have compared what the president is doing, is either extending what Trump did or being very Trump-like,” Jean-Pierre said. “That is not what is happening here.”

Administra­tion officials are ending the national emergency on May 11 that was brought on by the pandemic. Because the border restrictio­ns known as Title 42 are tied to the national emergency, the administra­tion is also planning to end them on May 11. The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing a Republican-led effort to leave them in place, but it has removed oral arguments on the case from its calendar.

 ?? Christian Chavez/Associated Press ?? Homeland Security officials are working through how to manage an expected increase of migrants at the border once the COVID-19 restrictio­ns that have been in place since 2020 are lifted in May.
Christian Chavez/Associated Press Homeland Security officials are working through how to manage an expected increase of migrants at the border once the COVID-19 restrictio­ns that have been in place since 2020 are lifted in May.

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