Migrant Families Voluntarily Separate For Children To Enter US Alone - Security Chief
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published May 14, 2021 | 12:00 AM
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2021) US border officials are receiving anecdotal reports that parents in migrant families are voluntarily separating from children, who then cross the borders as unaccompanied minors, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Congress on Thursday.
"We are certainly hearing anecdotally that some families self-separate to allow their children to enter the United States voluntarily. That speaks to the trauma that these families have endured in their desperation to give their children a better life," Mayorkas said in testimony to the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
The issue revolves around an order from the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) at the outset of the pandemic in March 2020 invoking a health provision known as Title 42, which the Trump administration used to prevent illegal immigrants from carrying COVID-19 infections across the Mexican and Canadian borders.
A recent Human Rights Watch report said Title 42 restrictions remain largely in place, blocking entry for single adults and some families, with a Biden administration exception requiring border agents to admit unaccompanied children.
The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it expelled 111,714 individuals under Title 42 in April and that the agency continues to use the provision to block entry of single adults and some family units.
Of 178,622 migrants stopped at the border in April alone, 62.5 percent were turned away under Title 42. During the month, agents encountered 13,962 unaccompanied minors crossing the border, CPB said.
Recent Stories
Mired in crisis, Boeing reports another loss
Session Awarding Ceremony 2024 held at Cadet College Muzaffarabad
Austrian ski great Hirscher to make comeback under Dutch flag
Pakistan, Japan agrees to convene 'Economic Policy Dialogue'
FM Dar conveys deepest sympathy on torrential rains devastation in UAE
Spain PM Sanchez says weighing resignation after wife's graft probe
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - 1st update
Long-lost Klimt portrait auctioned off for 30 mn euros
Osaka seals first win on clay since 2022 in Madrid
Earthquake jolts Karachi
Sindh minister orders operation after attack on police in Ghotki
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
More Stories From World
-
Football: English Championship table
5 hours ago -
Time for 'democratic transition' in Venezuela: opposition candidate to AFP
5 hours ago -
Spain's Pedro Sanchez : a risk-taker with a flair for survival
5 hours ago -
Football: French Ligue 1 table
6 hours ago -
Nadal will only play French Open if he can 'compete well'
6 hours ago -
Ukraine, Israel, TikTok: the massive aid package before US Congress
6 hours ago
-
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
6 hours ago -
Football: French Ligue 1 results
6 hours ago -
Spain PM Sanchez says weighing resignation after wife's graft probe
7 hours ago -
Long-lost Klimt portrait auctioned off for 30 mn euros
7 hours ago -
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
8 hours ago -
Anger among Ukrainians in Poland as Kyiv halts passport renewals
8 hours ago