Biden administration responds to border criticism

In response to a growing surge of migrants arriving at the southern border, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said it would take time “to rebuild the system that was entirely dismantled in the prior administration.” Republicans say President Joe Biden’s new immigration policies have fueled the surge, and 13 Republicans traveled to the border to get a firsthand look at what they say is a humanitarian crisis.

What did Biden change? In a reversal of a Trump-era policy, the Biden administration is allowing teens and children who cross the border by themselves to remain in the country. And following that reversal, many more children are showing up at the border. Border Patrol Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz said the agency has already had more encounters with unaccompanied minors this fiscal year than in all of fiscal year 2020, with the high traffic months of April, May, and June still ahead. The total number of migrants arriving is at its highest level since 2019 and is on pace to hit a 20-year peak.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s conversation with Ortiz on The World and Everything in It podcast.