President Joe Biden is spending $86 million to provide hotel rooms for migrants trying to enter the US. This is after the US struggled with the surging number of migrant families by the US-Mexico border. Hotels in both Arizona and Texas are going to hold approximately 1,200 migrants in six months.
ICE Signs with Endeavors
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signed a contract together with Endeavors, a non-profit that runs programs housing services, and disaster relief. ICE Acting Director Tae D. Johnson said that “The $86.9 million contract provides 1239 bends and other necessary services”. ICE Acting Director Johnson also added that the families will be receiving a “comprehensive health assessment that includes COVID19 testing”.
CEO of Endeavors Jon Allman described the contract to include “critical services to migrant families”. Families will be put in hotels that are close to the border. The contract with the Texas nonprofit can be extended and expanded depending on how the situation will unfold.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas refused to call the situation at the US-Mexican border a “crisis”. However, Mayorkas said this is likely the worst in the last two decades. He said that there are “more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years”.
Johnson warns that “our border is not open” as the US is also scrambling to control the spread of COVID19. He added that “The majority of individuals will continue to be expelled under the Centers for Disease Control’s public health authority”.
From January to February, the number of unaccompanied children detained without parents jumped by 5%. Of the 29,792 unaccompanied children, 2942 were under 12 years old. Family members caught crossing the southwest border in January more than doubled in February. It increased from 7,000 to 19,000 by February.
Hotels Used by Immigration Officials
Immigration officials used hotels in the past to house illegal immigrants. Last year, migrants were held in hotels including children before being deported.
Since inaugurated, Biden repealed restrictive immigration policies from the Trump administration.
