Number of unaccompanied migrant children held by Border Patrol falls 88% in 5 weeks
CBSN
The number of unaccompanied children held by Border Patrol has plummeted by 88% since late March, when U.S. migrant holding facilities became severely overcrowded as thousands of minors crossed the southern border alone.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was holding 677 unaccompanied children over the weekend, compared to the record 5,767 lone minors the agency had in its custody on March 28, Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas tolds reporters on Sunday. Unaccompanied children were spending an average of 130 hours in Border Patrol custody in March, beyond the three-day legal timeframe the agency has to transfer them to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Mayorkas said unaccompanied minors are now being held in Border Patrol facilities for an average of 20 hours.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.