Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he is charging Kamala Harris with diplomatic efforts to stem migration at the US-Mexico border, amid a deepening humanitarian challenge there.
The vice-president will collaborate with officials from Mexico and Central America, according to Reuters, taking on similar responsibilities to the president’s when he responded to an influx of children and families as vice-president under the Obama administration.
Both Biden and Harris were meeting with department heads and immigration advisers Wednesday, after alarming images circulated earlier this week showing packed border holding cells, children sleeping on floor mats and migrants turning to mylar blankets for warmth.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered nearly 9,500 children who came to the country unaccompanied by a parent or guardian at the southwest border last month, and more than 15,000 are currently in federal custody – nearly doubling the previous record, according to the Washington Post.
The arrival of so many vulnerable migrants, coinciding with the coronavirus pandemic, has sent government agencies scrambling for more space to safely accommodate those kids, many of whom are now getting stranded in inhospitable CBP facilities long after the legal time limit of 72 hours.
Meanwhile, White House officials and lawmakers on Wednesday were touring a controversial shelter in Carrizo Springs, Texas, overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the federal arm that cares for unaccompanied kids until they can be released to parents or sponsors.
Following widespread criticism of the administration’s lack of transparency surrounding its border operations, HHS allowed one network camera to join and document the tour, even as officials announced they’re opening a second Carrizo Springs facility to hold an additional 500 migrant kids.
A Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday that it had also received a request from HHS to use an empty dormitory at joint base San Antonio and land at Fort Bliss – both in Texas – to host unaccompanied children, CNN reported.
