It’s Not “Kids in Cages,” but Biden’s Reopening of a Shelter for Migrant Children Highlighted an Evolving Challenge
Jediah J. Biddinger, Managing Editor (‘21)
Barely weeks into his administration, President Joe Biden drew sharp criticism for reopening a shelter built by the Trump administration to house migrant children.[1] Some critics claim that Biden is returning to the “kids in cages” era of the Trump administration.[2] Others say Biden is getting away with the same practices for which the media condemned former President Donald Trump.[3] These criticisms are largely misplaced, but they have brought awareness to an emerging challenge and the need to ensure that past injustices are not repeated.[4]
I. Background: Biden Inherits the Trump Immigration Legacy
Biden framed his 2020 presidential campaign around the idea that his administration would “restore the soul of America.”[5] Biden promised robust changes to the U.S. immigration system, including a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people, an end to Trump’s “Muslim bans,” and protection for “Dreamers” in the DACA program.[6] As Biden took office on January 20, 2021, immigration advocates were determined to see reform, including reversals of key Trump-era policies.[7]
The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy of 2018 was perhaps its most controversial.[8] The policy sought to criminally prosecute all adults for illegally crossing the United States–Mexico border, but its practical effect was that children were taken from parents who faced charges.[9] Trump’s Attorney General at the time, Jeff Sessions, warned: “If people don’t want to be separated from their children, they should not bring them with them. We’ve got to get this message out.”[10] This policy resulted in over 3,000 children being separated from their parents.[11] Once removed from their parents, many children were packed into cells surrounded by chain-link fences in facilities run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).[12] Photos of these conditions spread, leading to outcry over the “kids in cages.”[13] The Trump administration ended parent–child separations due to mounting pressure, but it never formally ended the “zero tolerance” policy.[14] At the close of the Trump presidency, 611 children remained separated from their parents.[15]
The start of the Biden administration brought swift immigration change.[16] Biden took more executive actions in his first week than any president in modern history,[17] many of which were immigration related.[18] He put immigration advocates in influential positions in federal agencies.[19] He successfully petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss three Trump-era cases on funding for “sanctuary cities.”[20] He backed an immigration reform bill, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which would open up citizenship to many undocumented people, increase the number of immigrants accepted from underrepresented countries, and replace the archaic term “alien” with “noncitizen” in U.S. immigration law.[21] The bill has yet to pass the U.S. House or Senate, but its impact across the immigration system would be substantial.[22]
Additionally, on January 26, the Biden administration formally ended Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy.[23] On February 2, Biden also signed an executive order forming a “Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families” to find the remaining parents and return their children to them.[24] By late February, more than 100 of the remaining 611 children had been reunited, thanks to the efforts of a group of lawyers and advocates.[25] The group plans to work with Biden’s task force to reunite the remaining families.[26] Of about 500 still-missing parents, one-third are believed to still be in the United States, while two-thirds are believed to have been deported.[27] On March 1, the Biden administration announced that reunited families could stay in the country together to “the extent permissible under law.”[28]
II. Facing Housing Shortages, Biden Reopens Shelter for Migrant Children
Early in his administration, Biden reversed a Trump-era practice of expelling almost all unaccompanied migrant children from the country.[29] The practice had been justified as a public health measure, citing the risk of COVID-19 transmission across borders.[30] In reversing this practice, Biden resumed the pre-pandemic practice of holding unaccompanied children in facilities run by DHS.[31] Within seventy-two hours, those children must be transferred to one of around 200 shelters overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).[32] Children remain in HHS custody until it can identify and conduct a background check on a potential sponsor, such as a parent or relative already in the United States.[33]
Biden’s decision to stop expelling unaccompanied children “was applauded by immigrant advocates [but] essentially opened the floodgates.”[34] In January 2021, DHS apprehended 5,900 unaccompanied children, the highest monthly number since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.[35] By mid-February, about 7,000 HHS shelter beds were occupied by unaccompanied children, over 90% of capacity.[36] Typically, the shelters have over 13,600 licensed beds available, but COVID-19 capacity limits reduced that number to around 8,000.[37] Due to limited HHS capacity, children were remaining in DHS custody longer than the legal limit of seventy-two hours.[38] A DHS official said, “We can only get them out of our care as fast as H.H.S. can accept them.”[39] On February 19, about 750 children were in DHS custody waiting to be placed in an HHS shelter.[40]
In response to the situation, Biden announced the reopening of the Carrizo Springs Influx Care Facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas.[41] The Carrizo Springs facility is a temporary shelter that is overseen by HHS but managed by BCFS Health and Human Services, a nonprofit organization.[42] The Trump administration first opened the facility in 2019 after it was converted from a housing facility for oil field workers.[43] Trump then closed it a few weeks later.[44] On February 22, the shelter’s reopening gained widespread attention when The Washington Post published an article titled, “First migrant facility for children opens under Biden.”[45] Children began arriving at Carrizo Springs the same day.[46]
III. Critics Liken Biden’s Shelter Reopening to Trump’s “Kids in Cages”
Following the reopening announcement of the Carrizo Springs shelter, criticism began pouring in from across the political spectrum.[47] The Washington Post article had prominently featured a cover image of large metal containers, leading to questions as to whether Biden was putting “kids in containers instead of kids in cages.”[48] Popular criticism focused either on the apparent inhumanity of caging migrant children or on the apparent hypocrisy of Democrats reopening the “cages” under a new name.[49]
Much of the backlash came from members of Biden’s own party.[50] Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tweeted, “This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay - no matter the administration or party.”[51] Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) tweeted, “Multiple administrations have made the callous choice to lock up thousands of children seeking refuge in the United States of America.”[52] Actor Patton Oswalt, who was a harsh critic of the Trump administration, tweeted, “This is disgusting. It was disgusting under the last administration and it’s disgusting now.”[53]
Backlash from Republicans focused on the apparent hypocrisy in reopening the shelter.[54] Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) claimed that “there’s a load of hypocrisy going on here” because the same migrant facilities “used in the Trump administration [are] being reopened under the Biden administration.”[55] Conservative actor Kevin Sorbo tweeted that “Biden is putting kids in cages.”[56] Conservative media personality Cabot Phillips suggested that the media used the terms “Cages,” “Jail Cells,” and “Concentration Camps” when Trump was in office but now softens those terms, instead using “Temporary Structures,” “Emergency Facilities,” and “Overflow Camps.”[57]
Bipartisan criticism of the shelter spread across social media.[58] A political cartoon went viral on social media decrying the “changing terminology” used to refer to the same facilities.[59] In the cartoon, three identical groups of children are seen in cages, but each cage is labelled differently: “Obama's Immigration Detention Center, “Trump's Kids In Cages,” and “Biden's Migrant Child Facility.”[60] Other social media accounts, targeted towards both liberal and conservative audiences, shared Internet memes mocking the apparent terminology change.[61]
IV. Popular Criticism of the Shelter’s Reopening is Misplaced
Contrary to popular criticism, the reopening of the Carrizo Springs shelter is not comparable to the “kids in cages” scandal.[62] The shelter is overseen by HHS, not DHS, the latter of which ran the facilities that sparked public outcry in 2018 for inhumane conditions.[63] The viral Washington Post article discussed this distinction, but many readers likely could not read past the headline due to the article’s paywall.[64] A spokesperson for HHS noted that the Biden administration is working to move children from DHS, which is “law-enforcement focused,” into HHS shelters, “in which child welfare is more centric.”[65] Advocates say children are better off in an HHS temporary shelter than in DHS custody, or worse, being deported.[66]
The Washington Post article also explained that conditions at the Carrizo Springs shelter differed from Trump’s “kids in cages.”[67] Those “cages” were holding cells that required children to sleep “with nothing but mylar blankets to keep them warm at night on concrete floors.”[68] By contrast, the Carrizo Springs shelter sits on sixty-six acres and has tents and trailers set up for dining, education, haircutting, medical attention, and legal services.[69] According to HHS, each child gets a case management plan and “visits with mental health clinicians and lawyers.”[70] Outdoor recreation includes a soccer field and a basketball court.[71] Rosey Abuabara, an activist cited by The Washington Post, was saddened by the shelter’s reopening but noted that “it was considered the Cadillac of [migrant child] centers.”[72]
Another notable difference between the 2018 controversy and Biden’s recent move is the reason the children are in federal custody.[73] In 2018, the children in cages had been taken from their parents due to Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy, which Biden has since ended.[74] Children transferred to the Carrizo Springs shelter are unaccompanied, meaning without the presence of their parent or legal guardian.[75] White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “What we are not doing is what the last administration did, which was separate those kids, rip them from the arms of their parents at the border.”[76] The Biden administration is therefore providing a degree of temporary safety to migrant children who lack parents or legal guardians, not separating them from their parents.[77]
Finally, the incoming flow of unaccompanied children is occurring because Biden reversed Trump’s practice of expelling all unaccompanied children from the country.[78] Trump had used the COVID-19 pandemic as a basis to expel over 13,000 unaccompanied children.[79] One advocate says that if “Trump hadn’t expelled all these children, the arrivals would have been staggered and we wouldn’t be where we are now.”[80] According to an HHS shelter operator, Trump’s policy of expelling unaccompanied children “created a bubble that is bursting because now they can get in.”[81] Thus, the criticism that Biden is being inhumane—or a hypocrite—for reopening temporary shelters is misplaced.[82]
V. Reopening of Shelter Highlights Migration and Detention Challenges
Although the popular criticism over the Carrizo Springs shelter reopening is misplaced, advocates have nonetheless raised well-grounded concerns over its reopening.[83] Those concerns will likely grow in the coming months because more unaccompanied children are expected to come to the border, motivated by conditions in their home countries, improved weather, lessened concerns over COVID-19, and optimism for Biden’s immigration policies.[84] DHS projects that 117,000 unaccompanied children will enter the country in 2021.[85] By mid-March, the number of occupied HHS shelter beds had increased to 9,500, and an additional 4,500 children were in DHS facilities waiting to be transferred.[86]
Advocates have criticized the existing system for allowing private HHS shelters to profit off the detention of children.[87] Placing children in HHS shelters is expensive for the government.[88] Permanent shelters cost $290 per day per child, while temporary shelters cost $775 per child per day.[89] The cost of temporary shelters is higher “because of the need to install infrastructure like a kitchen, generators and showers.”[90] In theory, a child who stays at a shelter like Carrizo Springs for a year would cost $282,875, although such a lengthy stay is unlikely.[91]
Some critics argue that migrant children should not be detained at all because of the harmful effects of detention.[92] As one activist put it, “Spending time in these large, impersonal places traumatizes them.”[93] Some advocates say that many children can be united immediately with their sponsors, without detaining them while the sponsor is vetted.[94] HHS argues that vetting is necessary to ensure that children are not placed in poor conditions or with traffickers.[95] HHS has also argued that shelters are necessary to prevent childhood homelessness because sponsors are not always available.[96]
The potential harms of detention may depend on the conditions at the shelter itself, and the conditions at shelters in the Biden era are not yet clear.[97] In the past, advocates have noted “problems of violence and abuse arising out of large facilities holding migrant children.”[98] In 2018, a report found “hundreds of allegations of sexual offenses, fights and missing children” at HHS shelters.[99] In 2019, inspections revealed “that overcrowding had turned the temporary shelters into filthy, dehumanizing environments where children suffered neglect.”[100] Although the Biden administration has promised otherwise, advocates fear that the current flow of unaccompanied children will lead to similar conditions.[101]
Other critics recognize a need for shelters but advocate against the use of temporary ones like Carrizo Springs.[102] Temporary shelters are often located in isolated areas that make it difficult to “conduct independent oversight and ensure that the children are being treated humanely and in compliance with legal requirements.”[103] Additionally, while most HHS shelters are subject to state licensing requirements, temporary shelters are not.[104] HHS has promised that Carrizo Springs will “meet or exceed” state licensing standards.[105] Advocates plan to monitor the shelter to ensure it meets state standards.[106] Finally, advocates warn that temporary shelters often keep children in “soft-sided structures, such as tents, that do not have the amenities of longer-term shelters.”[107] HHS said that Carrizo Springs would initially house up to 700 children in hard-sided structures, although it noted that soft-sided structures “may be added if necessary.”[108]
Biden has assured advocates that the use of temporary shelters will be short lived.[109] In early March 2021, HHS began efforts to increase the number of permanent beds available by relaxing capacity limits related to COVID-19, but “not in a way that goes in excess and then puts kids more at risk.”[110] Relaxing capacity limits was expected to add about 2,000 beds to existing permanent shelters.[111]
Even if temporary shelters are closed in favor of better regulated, permanent ones, advocates say Biden’s shelters should be judged based on how long children are held in them.[112] The Trump administration was criticized for “detaining large numbers of migrant children and making it exceedingly difficult for them to reunify with their caretakers.”[113] HHS has stated that its goal is for children to remain at Carrizo Springs for about thirty days while potential sponsors are vetted.[114] This figure exceeds the federal recommendation that children stay in unlicensed shelters for no longer than twenty days.[115] However, the figure is far less than 102 days, which was the average number of days children spent in federal custody in the final full year of the Trump administration.[116] As of the end of January 2021, the average length of detention was forty-two days.[117] Some of those days were attributable to COVID-19 testing and quarantining requirements.[118]
To limit the number of days children spend in custody, the Biden administration is seeking to speed up its ability to release children to sponsors.[119] In early March 2021, HHS was releasing an average of 174 children to sponsors each day, up from an average of 90 per week in late January and early February.[120] DHS is looking to involve HHS staff earlier in the process “to immediately kick off the placement process and determine whether a child has a relative in the US.”[121] HHS will no longer share personal information of sponsors with immigration enforcement agents, a practice that kept undocumented sponsors from coming forward out of fear of deportation.[122] It also will “pay airfare for young migrants to join sponsors in cases where families could not pay for tickets themselves”—a reversal of past procedure.[123]
Finally, advocates point out that the detention of migrant children speaks to deeper issues in the U.S. immigration system.[124] As stated by a spokesperson for HHS, “Every kid that comes into this program is a symptom of a broken immigration system.”[125] To create meaningful change, officials must address the root causes that are driving children into federal immigration custody.[126] These children are often fleeing natural disasters, gang violence, or poverty in their home country.[127] Many of them have fled the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.[128] Perhaps as a starting place, Biden signed an executive order on February 2 to organize a “Root Causes Strategy” that seeks to address “the violence, instability, and lack of opportunity that compel so many people to flee their homes.”[129] Additionally, Biden’s proposed U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 would allocate $4 billion over four years to address migration from the Northern Triangle countries.[130] Critics question whether the funding is sufficient to address the issues, and the bill remains far from becoming law.[131] Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s Secretary of DHS, asked for patience as the agency navigates these challenges: “Entire systems are not rebuilt in a day or in a few weeks.”[132]
Conclusion
Biden’s reopening of the Carrizo Springs shelter set off a firestorm of criticism, mostly comparing it to actions taken by the Trump administration.[133] Although those criticisms were misplaced, the misplaced criticism nonetheless put pressure on the Biden administration to navigate an evolving challenge with care.[134] As noted by one immigration advocate, temporary shelters may serve as a short term solution, but greater problems will follow if detaining children in these shelters becomes the status quo.[135]
Advocates are pressuring the Biden administration to end the use of temporary shelters, increase transparency at the shelters, ensure humane living conditions, reduce the days children are held in custody, and reconsider the use of detention at all.[136] Thus far, the Biden administration has responding to the pressure by working to reduce reliance on temporary facilities and to speed up the release of children to sponsors.[137] However, the backlog of children in the custody of both DHS and HHS has continued to grow throughout March 2021.[138] If the unprecedented flow of unaccompanied children continues, there is no guarantee what the Biden administration will do.[139] The administration will likely struggle to appropriately care for these children in the coming months, and advocates will be watching closely.[140]
******
[1] See Franco Ordoñez, Biden Pledges that Border Shelter for Teens 'Won't Stay Open Very Long,' NPR (Feb. 25, 2021, 4:12 PM), https://www.npr.org/2021/02/25/971425227/fact-check-biden-reopens-border-shelters-for-teens-but-its-not-kids-in-cages.
[2] See Aaron Blake, No, Biden’s New Border Move Isn’t Like Trump’s ‘Kids in Cages,’ Wash. Post (Feb. 23, 2021, 11:02 AM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/23/no-bidens-new-border-move-isnt-like-trumps-kids-cages-not-hardly/.
[3] See Aila Slisco, Progressive Dems Condemn Biden for Reopening Migrant Children Facility: 'Never Will Be Okay,' Newsweek (Feb. 23, 2021, 8:59 PM), https://www.newsweek.com/progressive-dems-condemn-biden-reopening-migrant-children-facility-never-will-okay-1571510.
[4] See Ordoñez, supra note 1.
[5] See A Presidency for All Americans, JoeBiden.com, https://joebiden.com/presidency-for-all-americans/ (last visited Mar. 8, 2021).
[6] See The Biden Plan for Securing Our Values as a Nation of Immigrants, JoeBiden.com, https://joebiden.com/immigration/ (last visited Mar. 8, 2021).
[7] See Laura Barrón-López & Sabrina Rodriguez, Democrats Ready Immigration Push for Biden’s Early Days, Politico (Jan. 15, 2021, 6:56 PM), https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/15/biden-immigration-plans-459766.
[8] See U.S. Dep’t of Just. Office of the Inspector Gen., Review of the Department of Justice’s Planning and Implementation of Its Zero Tolerance Policy and Its Coordination with the Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services 1 (2021), https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/21-028_0.pdf [hereinafter Zero-Tolerance Policy Report].
[9] See id. at 1, 2.
[10] See Brett Samuels, Sessions: Migrants Shouldn't ‘Recklessly’ Bring Children Across Border if They Don't Want to Be Separated, Hill (June 5, 2018, 10:23 AM), https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/390733-sessions-migrants-shouldnt-bring-children-across-border-if-they-dont.
[11] See Zero-Tolerance Policy Report, supra note 8, at 2.
[12] See Blake, supra note 2.
[13] See id.
[14] See Michael D. Shear, Abby Goodnough & Maggie Haberman, Trump Retreats on Separating Families, but Thousands May Remain Apart, N.Y. Times (June 20, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/politics/trump-immigration-children-executive-order.html; Priscilla Alvarez & Evan Perez, Justice Department Officially Rescinds Policy that Led to Family Separations, CNN (Jan. 26, 2021, 6:44 PM), https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/26/politics/zero-tolerance-immigration-justice/index.html.
[15] See Julia Ainsley & Jacob Soboroff, Lawyers Have Found the Parents of 105 Separated Migrant Children in Past Month, NBC News (Feb. 24, 2021, 7:12 PM), https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/lawyers-have-found-parents-105-separated-migrant-children-past-month-n1258791.
[16] See Featured Issue: First 100 Days of the Biden Administration, Am. Immigr. Laws. Ass’n (Mar. 2, 2021), https://www.aila.org/advo-media/issues/all/first-100-days [hereinafter First 100 Days].
[17] See Miriam Valverde, How Joe Biden’s First Executive Orders Compare with Past Presidents, PolitiFact (Jan. 27, 2021), https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jan/27/marco-rubio/how-joe-bidens-first-executive-orders-compare-past/; Darragh Roche, Fact Check: Did Joe Biden Set Modern Record for Executive Orders in His First Week?, Newsweek (Jan. 27, 2021, 10:44 AM), https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-has-joe-biden-set-record-executive-orders-his-first-week-president-1564738.
[18] See, e.g., Presidential Memorandum, 86 Fed. Reg. 7053 (Jan. 20, 2021) (fortifying the DACA program); Proclamation No. 10,141, 86 Fed. Reg. 7005 (Jan. 20, 2021) (ending the “Muslim bans”). See generally First 100 Days, supra note 16 (summarizing Biden’s executive actions to date).
[19] See First 100 Days, supra note 16.
[20] See Lawrence Hurley, U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses 'Sanctuary' Funding Dispute, Reuters (Mar. 5, 2021, 10:47 AM), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-immigration/us-supreme-court-dismisses-sanctuary-funding-dispute-idUSKBN2AX1TV.
[21] See Press Release, White House, Fact Sheet: President Biden Sends Immigration Bill to Congress as Part of His Commitment to Modernize Our Immigration System (Jan. 20, 2021), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/20/fact-sheet-president-biden-sends-immigration-bill-to-congress-as-part-of-his-commitment-to-modernize-our-immigration-system/.
[22] See U.S. Citizenship Act, H.R. 1177, 117th Cong. (2021); U.S. Citizenship Act, S. 348, 117th Cong. (2021).
[23] See Alvarez & Perez, supra note 14.
[24] See Exec. Order No. 14,011, 86 Fed. Reg. 8273 (Feb. 2, 2021).
[25] See Ainsley & Soboroff, supra note 15.
[26] See id.
[27] See Amanda Holpuch, Parents of 112 Children Separated at US-Mexico Border Contacted, Court Hears, Guardian (Feb. 27, 2021, 7:02 EST), https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/27/us-mexico-border-family-separations-parents-contacted-court.
[28] See Press Release, U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security, DHS Secretary Mayorkas Announces Family Reunification Task Force Principles and Executive Director (Mar. 1, 2021), https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/03/01/dhs-secretary-mayorkas-announces-family-reunification-task-force-principles-and.
[29] See Notice of Temporary Exception from Expulsion of Unaccompanied Noncitizen Children Pending Forthcoming Public Health Determination, 86 Fed. Reg. 9942 (Feb. 17, 2021) (noting that the “exception went into effect on or about January 30, 2021,” the day after the Biden administration could have resumed expulsions following the stay of a district court’s preliminary injunction). Biden has thus far retained the policy for persons other than unaccompanied children. See id. On February 2, Biden signed an executive order to “review and determine whether termination, rescission, or modification of [the full policy] is necessary and appropriate.” See Exec. Order No. 14,010, 86 Fed. Reg. 8267 (Feb. 2, 2021).
[30] See Nationwide Enforcement Encounters: Title 8 Enforcement Actions and Title 42 Expulsions, U.S. Customs & Border Prot. (Mar. 8, 2021),
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics/title-8-and-title-42-statistics.
[31] See Press Release, U.S. Dep’t of Health & Hum. Services, Carrizo Springs Influx Care Facility (Mar. 2, 2021), https://www.hhs.gov/programs/social-services/unaccompanied-children/carrizo-springs-temporary-influx-facility-update.html [hereinafter HHS Press Release]. More narrowly, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection operates the facilities as part of DHS. See About CBP, U.S. Customs & Border Prot., https://www.cbp.gov/about (last visited Mar. 8, 2021).
[32] See HHS Press Release, supra note 31; Miriam Jordan, Thousands of Migrant Children Detained in Resumption of Trump-Era Policies, N.Y. Times (Mar. 4, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/migrant-children-border-detained.html. The Office of Refugee Resettlement is the division of HHS that oversees unaccompanied children. See HHS Press Release, supra note 31.
[33] See HHS Press Release, supra note 31.
[34] See Jordan, supra note 32.
[35] See Camilo Montoya-Galvez, U.S. Shelters for Migrant Children Near Maximum Capacity as Border Crossings Increase, CBS News (Feb. 22, 2021, 7:47 PM), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-shelters-for-migrant-children-near-maximum-capacity-as-border-crossings-increase/ [hereinafter Montoya-Galvez, Shelters Near Capacity].
[36] See Silvia Foster-Frau, First Migrant Facility for Children Opens Under Biden, Wash. Post (Feb. 22, 2021, 7:47 PM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/immigrant-children-camp-texas-biden/2021/02/22/05dfd58c-7533-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html.
[37] See HHS Press Release, supra note 31; Foster-Frau, supra note 36; Montoya-Galvez, Shelters Near Capacity, supra note 35.
[38] See Jordan, supra note 32.
[39] See id.
[40] See Montoya-Galvez, Shelters Near Capacity, supra note 35.
[41] See Courtney Subramanian, Rick Jervis & Rebecca Morin, Biden Administration to House Migrant Teens at Overflow Facility in Texas Closed Under Trump, USA Today (Feb. 3, 2021, 8:12 PM), https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/03/biden-house-migrant-children-texas-facility-closed-under-trump/4378699001/.
[42] See HHS Press Release, supra note 31.
[43] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[44] See id.
[45] See id.
[46] See HHS Press Release, supra note 31.
[47] See Slisco, supra note 3.
[48] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36; Psaki Takes Questions About Facilities for Migrant Children at the U.S.-Mexico Border, Yahoo News (Feb. 24, 2021), https://news.yahoo.com/psaki-takes-questions-facilities-migrant-200315534.html.
[49] See Slisco, supra note 3.
[50] See id.
[51] See Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC), Twitter (Feb. 23, 2021, 5:30 PM), https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1364341956676096001.
[52] See Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN), Twitter (Feb. 23, 2021, 7:32 PM), https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1364372597929103366.
[53] See Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt), Twitter (Feb. 24, 2021, 12:54 AM), https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/1364453644871983111; Tyler McCarthy, Patton Oswalt Slams Trump and His Supporters as 'A--holes,' Fox News (Dec. 13, 2019), https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/patton-oswalt-trump-supporters-mocking-greta-thunberg.
[54] See Slisco, supra note 3.
[55] See Joshua Q. Nelson, Rand Paul: Lot of ‘Hypocrisy’ from Biden Admin on Immigration, Migrant Facilities, Fox News (Feb. 25, 2021), https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rand-paul-biden-administration-hypocrisy-biden-administration-immigration
[56] See Kevin Sorbo (@ksorbs), Twitter (Mar. 1, 2021, 11:25 AM), https://twitter.com/ksorbs/status/1366424314808053763.
[57] See Cabot Phillips (@cabot_phillips), Twitter (Feb. 23, 2021, 2:19 PM), https://twitter.com/cabot_phillips/status/1364293874143920142.
[58] See infra notes 59–61 and accompanying text.
[59] See Ella Septima-Hamer (@jbrous41), Twitter (Feb. 25, 2021, 11:09 PM), https://twitter.com/jbrous41/status/1365152018038423554 (showing over 185,000 “likes” as of Mar. 8, 2021). The cartoon was created by illustrator Gary Varvel. See Gary Varvel, Creators Syndicate (Feb. 24, 2021),
https://www.creators.com/read/gary-varvel/02/21/297282.
[60] See Gary Varvel, supra note 59.
[61] See Close the Camps, Facebook (Feb. 24, 2021, 7:36 AM), https://www.facebook.com/CloseCamps/posts/2878607019094744; Meme Wars, Facebook (Feb. 27, 2021, 12:10 PM), https://www.facebook.com/MemeWarsUSA/posts/2937690046468850.
[62] See Ordoñez, supra note 1.
[63] See id.
[64] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[65] See id.
[66] See Rick Jervis, Surge of Unaccompanied Minors at Border Poses Challenge for Biden Administration, USA Today (Feb. 6, 2021, 12:52 PM), https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/06/unaccompanied-minors-immigrant-biden-border-rise/4400666001/ [hereinafter Jervis, Surge of Unaccompanied Minors] (“If it’s a choice between a child being held at an influx facility and a child being held in a Border Patrol facility or sent across the border, I'll take the influx facility.”).
[67] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36 (“[A spokesperson for HHS] said the facilities received a bad rap under the Trump administration because many people associated them with the detention centers run by [DHS]. But the children always received good care and that never wavered between administrations, he said.”).
[68] See Nicole Narea, Biden’s Controversial Decision to Reopen Temporary Shelters for Migrant Children, Explained, Vox (Mar. 1, 2021, 3:17 PM), https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22299135/biden-kids-cages-migrant-children-carrizo-homestead.
[69] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[70] See HHS Press Release, supra note 31.
[71] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[72] See id.
[73] See Blake, supra note 2.
[74] See Alvarez & Perez, supra note 14.
[75] See 6 U.S.C. § 279(g)(2); HHS Press Release, supra note 31.
[76] See Morgan Phillips, Psaki Pressed to Explain Difference Between Trump and Biden Migrant Facilities for Children, Fox News (Feb. 24, 2021), https://www.foxnews.com/politics/psaki-difference-trump-biden-migrant-facilities-children.
[77] See id.
[78] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36 (citing federal officials who noted that Biden “reversed some of Trump's expulsion practices by accepting unaccompanied children into the country, a change that also is contributing to an increase of minors in government facilities”).
[79] See District Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Illegal Border Expulsions, ACLU (Nov. 18, 2020), https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/district-court-blocks-trump-administrations-illegal-border-expulsions.
[80] See Jordan, supra note 32.
[81] See Montoya-Galvez, Shelters Near Capacity, supra note 35.
[82] See Ordoñez, supra note 1.
[83] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[84] See Jervis, Surge of Unaccompanied Minors, supra note 66; Camilo Montoya-Galvez, U.S. Shelters Received More than 7,000 Migrant Children in February, Posing Early Border Test for Biden, CBS News (Mar. 6, 2021, 8:00 AM), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/migrant-children-shelters-pre-pandemic-levels/ [hereinafter Montoya-Galvez, 7,000 Migrant Children].
[85] See Stef W. Kight, Scoop: Biden Briefing Calls for 20,000 Child Migrant Beds, Axios (Mar. 2, 2021), https://www.axios.com/biden-immigration-child-migrant-border-aeaf0231-02d3-4c96-b139-68069c0c1189.html.
[86] See Janie Boschma, Here's What We Know About Unaccompanied Children at the Southwest US Border, CNN (Mar. 19, 2021, 5:30 PM), https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/19/politics/us-mexico-border-migrant-children/index.html.
[87] See Garance Burke & Martha Mendoza, Private Sector Seeks to Profit by Detaining Migrant Kids, Associated Press (Oct. 3, 2019), https://apnews.com/article/7b9f754aa2fd4a7ba647aebaa98a0693.
[88] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[89] See id.
[90] See Jordan, supra note 32.
[91] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[92] See Narea, supra note 68. See generally Families Over Facilities: Ending the Use of Harmful and Unnecessary Institutions and Other Group Facilities in Child Welfare Systems, Child.’s Rights (Mar. 2, 2021), https://www.childrensrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CR-Families-Over-Facilities-Report.pdf (providing a comprehensive report on the impact of detention-like programs on children).
[93] See Jordan, supra note 32.
[94] See Jordan, supra note 32 (“Critics of the administration’s policies say most of the children arrive with the address and phone number of a relative in the United States and should be allowed to promptly join their families.”).
[95] See id.; see also Blake, supra note 2 (“Releasing [unaccompanied children] to the wrong person leads to all kinds of problems; in 2014, for instance, there was an uproar after traffickers took some teens who were released to go work on an egg farm.”).
[96] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[97] See Subramanian, Jervis & Morin, supra note 41.
[98] See Ordoñez, supra note 1.
[99] See Michael Grabell & Topher Sanders, Immigrant Youth Shelters: “If You’re a Predator, It’s a Gold Mine,” ProPublica (July 27, 2018, 12:19 PM), https://www.propublica.org/article/immigrant-youth-shelters-sexual-abuse-fights-missing-children.
[100] See Jordan, supra note 32.
[101] See Montoya-Galvez, Shelters Near Capacity, supra note 35.
[102] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[103] See Narea, supra note 68; see also Foster-Frau, supra note 36 (noting an activist’s claim that temporary shelters cause children to be “shepherded in unmarked vans to remote areas with[] little oversight”); Jervis, Surge of Unaccompanied Minors, supra note 66 (“To legal providers like us, those places are like black holes.”).
[104] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[105] See id.; see also HHS Press Release, supra note 31 (“While ICFs are not required to be licensed by the state, Carrizo Springs standards exceed minimum Texas state licensing standards in several areas, including orientation timelines, service planning update timelines and regularity, and various operation staffing ratios.”).
[106] See Subramanian, Jervis & Morin, supra note 41.
[107] See Jordan, supra note 32.
[108] See HHS Press Release, supra note 31.
[109] See Ordoñez, supra note 1 (“Our hope and expectation is that won’t stay open very long, that we will be able to provide for every kid that comes across the border to safely be housed in a facility that is licensed.”).
[110] See Priscilla Alvarez & Geneva Sands, 'We're Not Keeping Up': Biden Administration Scrambles to House Children Crossing the US-Mexico Border Alone, CNN (Mar. 2, 2021, 1:01 PM), https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/02/politics/us-mexico-border-children/index.html.
[111] See Kight, supra note 85.
[112] See Ordoñez, supra note 1.
[113] See Narea, supra note 68.
[114] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[115] See id.
[116] See id.
[117] See HHS Press Release, supra note 31.
[118] See Montoya-Galvez, 7,000 Migrant Children, supra note 84.
[119] See Jonathan Swan & Stef W. Kight, Scoop: Leaked HHS Docs Spotlight Biden's Child Migrant Dilemma, Axios (Mar. 4, 2021), https://www.axios.com/biden-child-migrant-border-hhs-leaked-99e6d9a2-20f7-415e-b75c-c23d5c417914.html.
[120] See id.
[121] See Alvarez & Sands, supra note 110.
[122] See Rebecca Beitsch & Brett Samuels, Biden to Rescind Trump Order on Processing Young Migrants, Hill (Mar. 12, 2021, 12:11 PM), https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/542937-biden-to-rescind-trump-order-on-processing-young-migrants.
[123] See Jordan, supra note 32.
[124] See Foster-Frau, supra note 36.
[125] See id.
[126] See Jasmine Aguilera, Joe Biden's Immigration Bill Aims to Address the Root Causes of Migration. Will it Work?, Time (Feb. 18, 2021, 1:55 PM), https://time.com/5931575/biden-immigration-bill-migration-root-causes/.
[127] See id.
[128] See id.
[129] See Exec. Order No. 14,010, 86 Fed. Reg. 8267 (Feb. 2, 2021).
[130] See Aguilera, supra note 126.
[131] See id.
[132] See Press Briefing, White House, Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (Mar. 1, 2021, 12:07 PM), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/03/01/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-and-secretary-of-homeland-security-alejandro-mayorkas/.
[133] See Ordoñez, supra note 1.
[134] See id.
[135] See id.
[136] See id.
[137] See Alvarez & Sands, supra note 110; Kight, supra note 85.
[138] See Franco Ordoñez, Hundreds of Migrant Children Held in Border Detention for More Than 10 Days, NPR (Mar. 18, 2021, 10:19 PM), https://www.npr.org/2021/03/18/979014713/hundreds-of-migrant-children-held-in-border-detention-for-more-than-10-days.
[139] See Alvarez & Sands, supra note 110.
[140] See Blake, supra note 2.