Family border arrests, kids in shelters on rise

WASHINGTON -- The number of migrant family members arrested after entering the United States without authorization shot up 38 percent in August, according to statistics released Wednesday, a surge Homeland Security officials characterized as a "crisis."

Separately, population levels at federally contracted shelters for migrant children have quietly shot up more than fivefold since last summer, according to data obtained by The New York Times, reaching a total of 12,800 this month. There were 2,400 such children in custody in May 2017.

Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 13,000 members of "family units" last month, the latest data show, the highest August total ever recorded. The increase followed President Donald Trump's decision to back off the provision of his zero-tolerance crackdown that separated children from parents in an attempt to deter illegal migration.

Migration numbers typically rebound in August after a summer lull. Overall, the number of foreigners apprehended or deemed "inadmissible" at border crossings rose to 46,560 in August, up from 39,953 in July.

[U.S. immigration: Data visualization of selected immigration statistics, U.S. border map]

Homeland Security officials said the arrival of so many families was due to court-imposed restrictions limiting how long children may be detained in immigration jails. The result, officials say, is that parents bring children as a way to win quick release from government custody and avoid deportation.

"The numbers have continued to increase because this is a well-known avenue to arrive in the U.S. and be allowed to stay," said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan.

Arrests of migrant family members increased by a similar percentage during the same period last year, rising 36 percent from July to August 2017. But the 12,774 family members taken into custody in August -- the sixth-highest monthly total on record -- was a threefold increase over 2017.

Homeland Security is mounting new legal challenges to child detention rules in a bid to hold families for however long it takes to adjudicate their appeals for asylum or other forms of humanitarian protection offered by the U.S. immigration system.

Information for this article was contributed by Caitlin Dickerson of The New York Times.

A Section on 09/13/2018

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