The Biden administration is considering detaining migrant families who entered the US illegally as it prepares to end COVID-19 restrictions at the US-Mexico border, according to US officials familiar with the plans. That would be a major turnaround after officials stopped detaining families in detention centers in late 2021.

Homeland Security officials are working to deal with an expected increase in migrants at the border once COVID-19 restrictions in place since 2020 are lifted in May. Detention is one of many ideas under discussion and nothing has been finalized yet. officials said.

If families were detained, they would be held for short periods of time, perhaps just a few days, and their cases would be expedited through the immigration court, an official said. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about internal deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on rumors “that the policy was being considered. I’m not saying it is, I’m not saying it isn’t,” she said. say or president

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Biden believed detention of families was humane.

Under current policy, families arriving at the US-Mexico border are released into the US and ordered to appear in immigration court at a later date. Few families were taken into custody during the height of the pandemic, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are now using those facilities to detain single adults illegally crossing the border.

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But the US has taken increasing measures to curb migrants as it faces a record number of people coming to the Mexican border seeking asylum and is seeing some success in reducing the number of migrants entering a dangerous and often deadly journey.

The suggestion to re-detain families has been met with disdain by immigration advocates, who point to studies showing how harmful detention can be for children and families. Many said they were surprised to learn of the possibility, as they had been told families would no longer be detained.

The Biden administration is seeking a balance that protects the rights of those fleeing persecution and violence, and the desire to make asylum processing more orderly,” said Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub. “Family lock-up is not part of this. scavenger hunts We implore the administration to repudiate this shameful, outdated practice.

In 2020, Biden himself said in a tweet after reports that children were being released, but not their parents: children should be immediately released from ICE detention with their parents. This is pretty simple and I can’t believe I have to say it: families belong together.

A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows some support for changing the number of immigrants and asylum seekers entering the country. According to the poll, about 4 in 10 American adults say the level of immigration and asylum seekers should be lowered, while about 2 in 10 say it should be higher. About a third want the numbers to remain the same.

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Illegal border crossings plummeted after Biden announced on January 5 that Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans would be returned to Mexico if they crossed illegally. At the same time, the administration announced that up to 30,000 people from those four countries could come monthly if they applied online, arrived at an airport and had a financial sponsor. Border Patrol apprehended 128,410 migrants at the Mexican border in January, a 42% drop from December, the highest month on record. The February numbers have not been released publicly, but one of the officials said AP migrants have been stopped about 130,000 times.

Last month, the administration said it would generally deny asylum to migrants who show up at the southern US border without first seeking protection in a country they passed through, reflecting a Trump administration effort that never materialized. took effect because it was blocked by the court.

But most of these efforts do not involve families, who are treated differently because of the traveling children. But parents who fear detention may also send their children alone, and the number of unaccompanied migrants is also increasing.

I am alarmed by news reports that the administration is considering reintroducing family detention policies,” said Bennie Thompson (D-Miss), the senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee. Not only is this policy cruel and harmful to children, it also does not prevent families from traveling to the United States.

The administration has the capacity to house about 3,000 people in two Texas family prisons.

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Both the Obama administration and the Trump administration kept families in those facilities until their immigration cases played out, though a court order prohibits the government from detaining children for more than 20 days. A third detention center in Pennsylvania was closed a few months ago.

Jean-Pierre countered criticism that Biden reinstated some of the former president’s policies

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Trump, who, among the major changes he made to the immigration system, severely restricted asylum policies and forcibly separated children from their parents at the border in a policy that was globally labeled inhumane.

Many people have compared what the president is doing either extending what Trump did or being very Trump-like, Jean-Pierre said. That’s not what’s happening here.

Administrative officials end the national emergency triggered by the pandemic on May 11. Since the border restrictions, known as Title 42, are related to the national emergency, the government also plans to end them on May 11. on the case from the calendar.

The majority of migrants seeking asylum do not actually receive asylum, according to data from the US government. Only about 30% qualify under US law, which narrowly defines who qualifies. Many people who come are looking for a better life and fleeing poverty and devastation in their home countries, but that often doesn’t mean they can stay in the US

The two Texas detention centers are located in Karnes City and in Dilley. Families would likely be held again in Dilley, which was used to hold families during the Obama and Trump administrations. The New York Times first reported that officials were once again considering detaining families.

Spagat reported from San Diego.