On Tuesday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said that he is concerned that the exemption for unaccompanied minors in President Joe Biden’s border executive action might create a crisis-level surge of unaccompanied children arriving at the border.
Co-host Amna Nawaz asked, “I have been on the Mexican side of the border during previous times of border restrictions and seen families who then have to decide whether or not they will decide to send their kids alone, because, obviously, unaccompanied minors still do get access. Are you at all worried this is going to fuel another potential crisis of children arriving alone at the U.S. border?”
Kelly answered, “Of course I’m worried. We don’t want to see kids winding up in a situation, where, in Mexico, they are separated from their parents. That’s not the goal here. I was speaking to Ali Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, today about this. And as we roll out these changes in policy, what we expect to see is the number of individuals that are entering our country between ports of entry and who are not using things like the CBP One app and other lawful means to come to the United States and seek asylum, that those numbers will trend down significantly. That’s the expectation.”
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