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On Tuesday, the Biden administration’s Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said the situation is under control as a rising number of migrants at the southwest border and criticism from all sides. He defended a policy of allowing children crossing by themselves to remain in the country. US Homeland Security Secretary conceded that a surge in the number of children, mostly from Central America is a challenge for the Border Patrol and other agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. But, Mayorkas rejected a Trump-era policy of sending them immediately back to Mexico or other countries. He issued a statement and said, “They are vulnerable children and we have ended the prior administration’s practice of expelling them”. The increasing number of migrants attempting to cross the border has become an early test for President Joe Biden as he seeks to break from his immediate predecessor.

It is noteworthy that the number of migrants attempting to cross the border is now at the highest level since spring 2019. Republicans in Congress have claimed that Biden’s support for immigration legislation and decision to allow people making legal asylum claims has become a magnet for migrants. But, Mayorkas pointed out that there have been surges in the past, even under Trump. However, some progressive Democrats and others have assailed the Biden administration for holding migrant children in US Customs and Border Protection detention facilities longer than the allowed 72 hours as it struggles to find space in shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services. The number of children crossing by themselves increased 60% from January to more than 9,400 in February. The overall increase is blamed on a plethora of factors.

The US officials have also conceded that smugglers have encouraged people to try to cross under the Biden administration. Point to be noted that migrants who are under 18 years old are being allowed to remain in the country while the government decides whether they have a legal claim to residency, either under asylum law or for some other reason. The US is continuing to expel most single adults and families to Mexico or to their countries of origin. The US Security Secretary said the exceptions are being made for adults with certain acute vulnerabilities that he didn’t specify or for families when Mexican authorities don’t have the capacity in shelters to accept them. He said that 80% of the children have relatives in the US and 40% have a parent.