The Biden administration has offered thousands of federal employees four months of paid leave if they are willing to help take care of migrant children in shelters across the country.
The Biden administration has offered thousands of federal employees four months of paid leave if they are willing to help take care of migrant children in shelters across the country.
An ad-hoc and desperate email sent by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) landed in the inboxes of government employees from agencies as diverse as NASA, which read:
"Will you consider taking a four-month paid leave from your job to help care for migrant children in government-run shelters packed with new arrivals at the border?"
According to The NY Times, In Mar. 2021 alone, border agents had to detain almost 19,000 unaccompanied minors at the border.
Currently there are slightly over 20,000 children being held by the government, and these numbers are despite the "catch and release" policy in effect, where many more children are released into the custody of relatives pending a hearing.
It is estimated that, by the beginning June 2021, the US government will be saddled with an additional 15,000 child migrants with nowhere to go, bringing the grand total to 35,000 in a system that's already over capacity.
The Biden administration appears to be scrambling to find solutions to this unprecedented crisis at the border, which they are still refusing to call a crisis.
Other makeshift solutions are already in place. For example, many migrants will temporarily be housed in hotel rooms close to the border, at taxpayer expense.
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