Photos: US faces biggest migrant surge in two decades
A surge of migrants on the Southwest border between the US and Mexico has the Biden administration on the defensive with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas acknowledging the depth of the problem, but insisting it's under control. The US administration is still rapidly expelling most single adults and families under a public health order issued by President Donald Trump at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of migrants attempting to cross the border is at the highest level since March 2019, with Mayorkas warning that it is on pace to hit a 20-year peak.
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Asylum seeking migrants hold their children as they await transport after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico, in La Joya, Texas, US, on March 14. A surge of migrants on the US southwest border has the Biden administration on the defensive, with the head of Homeland Security acknowledging the depth of the problem but insisting it's under control.(Adrees Latif / REUTERS)
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Migrants look through the border wall after crossing the Rio Bravo river, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on March 14. The number of migrants being stopped at the US-Mexico border has been rising since last April, and the administration is still rapidly expelling most single adults and families under a public health order issued by President Donald Trump at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, AP reported.(Jose Luis Gonzalez / REUTERS)
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A US Border Patrol agent processes asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors as family units sit on the sideline, in Penitas, Texas, US, on March 17. According to a US official, more than 4,000 migrant children were being held by the Border Patrol as of March 14, including at least 3,000 in custody longer than the 72-hour limit set by a court-order, AP reported.(Adrees Latif / REUTERS)
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Asylum-seeking migrants from Central America, who were airlifted from Brownsville to El Paso, Texas, and deported from the US, walk near the Paso del Norte international border bridge in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on March 16. The Border Patrol took in an additional 561 on March 15, twice the recent average, a US official told AP on condition of anonymity to discuss figures not yet publicly released.(Jose Luis Gonzalez / REUTERS)
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