Republicans refer to the situation as a crisis causing Mr. Biden and signal a goal of using his immigration agenda as a political weapon against him in 2022. California representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, plans to take other Republicans on a trip to the border to highlight the problem. Republican James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, called the surge in migration a signal “to the world that our immigration laws can be violated with little or no consequence” on Wednesday.
However, Mr Biden has continued to apply a Trump-era rule to quickly turn away most migrants at the border, with the exception of unaccompanied minors. The government last week ordered shelters to return the children to normal capacity despite the coronavirus pandemic.
To find extra space for the kids, the Biden government is considering moving them to disused school buildings, military bases, and even on NASA’s Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, California. This emerges from a memo from the Times. The NASA site would “remain unoccupied but would be available for use when HHS urgently needs additional shelter,” the memo said.
Darryl Waller, a NASA spokesman, confirmed in a statement that the government is considering moving migrant children to “currently vacant lots” on the site. “These efforts will not affect NASA’s ability to conduct its main missions,” he said.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr Biden advocated a more humane approach to border immigration, with priority investing in Central America to prevent illegal immigration. But it has resulted in those who have fled poverty and persecution and see a better chance of entering the United States than they did under the Trump administration.
“One of the things I think is important is that we’ve seen waves before,” said Ms. Jacobson. “Surges tend to respond to hope. And there was great hope for a more humane policy. “
Part of the Obama administration’s response was to create a program to allow Central American children to seek protection from their home countries.
