About 8,800 unaccompanied children expelled at US border

About 8,800 unaccompanied children have been quickly expelled from the United States along the Mexico border under a pandemic-related measure that effectively ended asylum, authorities have said.

The Trump administration has expelled more than 159,000 people since the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emergency order took effect in March, a figure that also includes more than 7,600 adults and children who crossed the border in families.

The figures on children were reported for the first time in a declaration by Raul Ortiz, the Border Patrol’s deputy chief, as part of the administration’s appeal of an order to stop housing children in hotels.

The administration “immediately” expelled most children and families to Mexico but more than 2,200 unaccompanied children and 600 people who came in families were held until flights could be arranged to return home, Ortiz said on Friday.

The administration asked the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling last week that found the use of hotels skirted “fundamental humanitarian protections”.

US District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles ruled that using hotels for long-term detention violated a 20-year-old settlement governing the treatment of children in custody. She ordered border agencies to stop placing children in hotels by Tuesday.

Justice Department lawyers argued that settlement does not apply during the public health emergency and that hotels were appropriate.

“While in these hotels, the government provides minors with supervision by specialists, recreation, amenities, and protective measures against COVID-19,” the lawyers wrote.

Before the pandemic, unaccompanied children were sent to state-licensed shelters operated by the Department of Health and Human Services and often released to family members while seeking asylum.