Washington (US), March 12: An estimated 8,800 migrant children who came to the United States alone are currently in federal care facilities, a US Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson told Sputnik.
"Currently, there are approximately 8,800 unaccompanied children (UC) in ORR [Office of Refugee Resettlement] care," the spokesperson said on Thursday.
On February 18, there were said to be about 6,800 unaccompanied migrant children under the care of the ORR.
HHS, in a fact sheet released on March 1, said that the average length of time migrant children spend in federal care facilities is 42 days.
The United States has seen an influx of unaccompanied migrant children at the US-Mexico border since October 2020.
Data from US Customs and Border Protection shows 9,457 unaccompanied migrant children were rescued at the southern border in February, a substantial increase from the 5,858 unaccompanied migrant children taken to shelters in January.
Last month, the influx caused the Biden administration to open another facility, this time in in Carizzo Springs, Texas, that can house up to 700 migrant children.
Source: Sputnik