NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday said the number of attempted crossings at the Mexican border is expected to reach its highest level in 20 years.
CBS News correspondent Mireya Villarreal, who has been embedded with local constables who are back up for border patrol, spoke WCBS 880's Lynda Lopez on Tuesday afternoon from Mission, Texas near the Mexican border.
She said many of the migrants are children traveling alone.
Villarreal said she spoke with three boys, ages 12, 14 and 16, who told her that they had just crossed the river.
"They actually directed us towards more people that were in the brush that were coming through and sure enough maybe 10 minutes later we ran into that next group, and this was a larger group of about 20 or 30 people, give or take, a lot of children in that group," Villarreal said. "It was interesting to talk to them. They seemed so much older than what their age and what their faces showed. These were young kids and to hear them saying things like, 'I'm not scared,' 'I'm going to go stay with my aunt,' 'I'm going to go stay with my uncle,' or 'No, I'm not here with my parents,' I can't imagine how they're able to make this journey by themselves and be so confident in it as well."
According to the Associated Press, more than 4,000 migrant children were being held by the Border Patrol custody as of Sunday night. The agency also took in an additional 561 on Monday.
Villarreal said she has been struck by the confidence in the children she meets who are traveling to the U.S. on their own.
"I have a young son and also I was 10 once and the idea that there is so much maturity, and so many things that they've seen probably on their journey, so many things they had to live through and to tell you the truth, it's just beginning. They still have to go into detention facilities," Villarreal said.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas addressed the issue Tuesday, saying they are planning short-term and long-term solutions.
"I think he's trying to be very honest about the situation saying that this is something that they are going to be wrestling with for months," Villarreal said. "We have heard that there are discussions on the backend of opening up several facilities around the country, including for example a facility that's in the San Francisco area that belongs to NASA. It's not a done deal but they are looking at locations that are owned by the federal government that potentially have housing capabilities on them."
According to a report by the Associated Press, the number of migrants being stopped at the Mexico border has been rising since last April. Though, the new administration is still rapidly expelling most single adults and families under a public health order issued by former President Donald Trump at the start of the pandemic.
Children and teens have been allowed to stay, at least temporarily, according to the report, and they have been coming over in even larger numbers.
“The situation at the southwest border is difficult,” the AP reports Mayorkas said. “We are working around the clock to manage it and we, will continue to do so. That is our job.”
Mayorkas has said the surge in the number of children and teenagers at the border is a challenging. But, he has rejected the Trump-era policy of sending the minors back to Mexico or deporting them to other countries.
“They are vulnerable children and we have ended the prior administration’s practice of expelling them,” Mayorkas said.
The Biden administration is allowing migrants who are under 18 years old and cross by themselves to remain in the country while the government decides whether they have a legal claim to residency, either under asylum law or for some other reason.
Mayorkas noted that 80% of the minors, most of whom are from the three Northern Triangle countries of Central America, have relatives in the U.S. and 40% have a parent. “These are children being reunited with their families who will care for them,” he said.
The Biden administration last week ended a Trump policy that made relatives reluctant to contact HHS to retrieve children for fear of being deported themselves.
(© 2021 WCBS 880. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)