Last summer, facing a spike in the number of Central American migrants fleeing violence and poverty at the southern U.S. border, the Obama administration sped up deportation proceedings of asylum-seeking mothers and children and increased family detention capacity at the four main detention centers located in Pennsylvania, Texas, and New Mexico.
But now — after facing considerable public criticism from advocates,lawmakers, and detainees themselves — these centers may soon undergo changes to minimize the amount of time that mothers and children are kept in detention.
In response to the more than 68,541 unaccompanied migrant children and 68,445 family units comprised of migrant women and their children who entered the U.S. between October 2013 and September 2014, the Obama administration took an “aggressive deterrence strategy” that aims to dissuade would-be migrant border crossers. This strategy involves holding migrants in detention without giving them the option to pay bond. The message was made clear last year byPresident Obama: There would be no guarantee of legal status, and children would be sent back to their countries as soon as possible.
That sentiment was echoed by other White House officials including Vice President Joe Biden, Department of Homeland Security SecretaryJeh Johnson, and Cecilia MuÑoz.
[For more of this story, written by Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, go to http://thinkprogress.org/immig...s-johnson-advocates/]
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