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May 25, 2021


Dear John,

March saw the highest ever number of unaccompanied child arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, followed by the second largest number in April. While the federal government has made progress getting children out of Border Patrol facilities ill-suited to their care and into Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelters, there are serious concerns about the standards of care and conditions at some of these sites.

In a new Migration Policy Institute (MPI) commentary, MPI Human Services Initiative Director Mark Greenberg outlines the developments that have reduced the number of children in Border Patrol facilities, including the creation of new emergency intake sites and more expedited procedures for child releases to parents or other sponsors.

MPI analysis of recent data indicates that 58 percent of children in ORR care are at these emergency intake sites, which, while seen as preferable to Border Patrol facilities, are not state licensed and do not have the same staffing and service requirements as licensed ORR bedspace.

"The clearest immediate challenge is to strengthen services and improve conditions at the emergency intake shelters," writes Greenberg, who previously served as acting assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children, Youth, and Families, which oversees ORR. "While conditions can be improved, it is doubtful that these sites can ever be good places for children to stay for any extended period. That highlights the need to continue speeding releases while minimizing increased risks. It also underscores the need for HHS to build licensed capacity."

You can read the commentary here: www.migrationpolicy.org/news/unaccompanied-children-emergency-intake-site-challenges.

For an interactive data tool showing the release of unaccompanied children to sponsors at U.S., state, and top county levels from 2014 onward, check out: www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/unaccompanied-children-released-sponsors-state-and-county.

And to access all of MPI's research and other resources on child migration, visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/us-immigration-policy-program/rising-child-migration-united-states.

With thanks for your interest in our work,

Michelle Mittelstadt
Director of Communications and Public Affairs,
Migration Policy Institute

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