Border Patrol Apprehends Almost 1,000 Migrant Children in Six Days

Between November 18 and 23, U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended almost 1,000 migrant minors who crossed the border without their parents or legal guardians, CBS News reports.

CBP head Mark Morgan told a federal court in a declaration on Wednesday that government statistics show the agency apprehended 997 unaccompanied migrant minors in six days last week, bringing the total number of unaccompanied children taken into custody since September to over 9,900.

The agency projects that border crossings by unaccompanied children will likely increase by as much as 50% in the next four months. However, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt told CBS: "The assertion that there will be a sharp increase in border crossings by children this winter is speculative at best, and in any event children can be safely tested and quarantined as needed.

He added, “There is simply no basis for the Trump administration's claim that the cruel and patently unlawful Title 42 policy,” the policy of expelling unaccompanied migrant children without holding a court hearing or asylum screening, “is necessary to protect public health."

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