Increasing Numbers of Unaccompanied Alien
Children at the Southwest Border
Updated June 29, 2021
In just the first eight months of FY2021, the number of encounters (apprehensions or expulsions) of
unaccompanied alien children (UAC) at the U.S.-Mexico border with the Department of Homeland
Security’s (DHS’s) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has exceeded the previous fiscal year
peak that occurred in FY2019. While the number of UAC encounters declined substantial y from FY2019
to FY2020, in large part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have rapidly increased since February
2021. March 2021 UAC encounters (18,724) were the highest monthly total on record. Subsequent
monthly figures have declined somewhat but are expected to continue at the current elevated rate for the
rest of FY2021.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) continues to exercise an authority under Title 42 of the U.S. Code (public health) that permits
DHS to rapidly expel al individuals without a valid visa or who are apprehended between official ports of
entry in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (expulsions). Expulsions for UAC were halted by a
federal judge in November 2020, and formal y rescinded by the Biden Administration in February 2021.
Al unaccompanied children are now being apprehended under Title 8 of the U.S. Code (immigration
law), as in prior years.
Unaccompanied alien children are statutorily defined as children who lack lawful immigration status in
the United States, are under age 18, and lack a parent or legal guardian in the United States or a parent or
legal guardian in the United States who is available to provide care and physical custody. UAC treatment
and processing at U.S. borders are governed by several statutes and a legal settlement. These provisions
require that arriving unaccompanied children from noncontiguous countries be transferred to the custody
of HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and al owed to apply for asylum or other forms of
immigration relief. In contrast, the law permits CBP to quickly repatriate Mexican and Canadian
unaccompanied children who are not trafficking victims or who do not fear persecution in their countries.
UAC apprehensions have fluctuated substantial y in the past decade. They increased from 16,067 in
FY2011 to 68,541 in FY2014, a record high at the time. They declined to 39,970 in FY2015, increased to
59,692 in FY2016, declined to 41,435 in FY2017, and increased to 50,036 in FY2018. In FY2019, UAC
apprehensions reached a new record high of 76,020. FY2020 saw a decline to 30,557 encounters (19,618
Title 8 apprehensions and 10,939 Title 42 expulsions, which only occurred in the second half of the fiscal
year) because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first eight months of FY2021, encounters reached
78,513 (73,871 apprehensions and 4,642 expulsions, which only occurred in the first two months of the
fiscal year).
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Currently, most apprehended UAC originate from Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of El
Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico (Figure 1). In FY2011, Mexican children accounted for 73% of UAC
apprehensions, while those from Northern Triangle countries accounted for 25%. By FY2021, these
proportions had flipped to 21% and 75%, respectively.
Figure 1. UAC Apprehensions at Southwest Border by Country of Origin, FY2011-FY2021*

Sources: FY2011-FY2013: U.S. Border Patrol, “Juvenile and Adult Apprehensions—Fiscal Year 2013.” FY2014-FY2018:
Customs and Border Protection, “U.S. Border Patrol Southwest Border Apprehensions by Sector FY2018.” FY2019-
FY2021: Customs and Border Protection, “Southwest Border Apprehensions by Sector Fiscal Year 2021.”
Notes: *FY2021 figures represent eight months or two thirds of the fiscal year, from October 1, 2020, through May 31,
2021. Figures for FY2020 and FY2021 include Title 8 apprehensions and Title 42 expulsions. Figure 1 does not present
statistics on UAC deemed inadmissible, because they are unavailable prior to FY2017.
Most UAC encounters have occurred in the El Paso, Rio Grande, and Tucson border sectors. Among
those referred to ORR in the first six months of FY2021, 28% have been female and 12% have been
under the age of 13.
Several federal agencies handle the apprehension, processing, and repatriation or U.S. placement of UAC.
CBP apprehends, processes, and initial y detains UAC encountered along U.S. borders. DHS’s U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) transports UAC from CBP custody to ORR custody. ORR
shelters and places UAC with sponsors, usual y family members, as they await an immigration hearing.
Most UAC apply for asylum, and DHS’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicates initial
asylum petitions. The Department of Justice’s Executive Office of Immigration Review conducts
immigration proceedings that al ow testimony to be presented. During these proceedings, an immigration
judge determines whether a UAC is removable or qualifies for relief that al ows him or her to remain in
the United States. ICE repatriates UAC who are ordered removed.
Declining UAC apprehensions in FY2020 led ORR to reduce housing capacity within its network of
state-licensed shelters. In addition, because ORR followed CDC public health guidelines that led to a
reduction in the number of children housed in its network of state-licensed shelters, it did not have the
capacity to house large numbers of children when referrals significantly increased in January 2021.
Consequently, many UAC were housed temporarily in CBP facilities (which were not designed to hold

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children) for longer than the 72-hour limit mandated by law. CDC has recently directed ORR to relax its
guidelines and to accommodate children at full capacity. CDC maintains that relaxing guidelines at ORR
shelters, despite potential health risks, is preferable to prolonged stays in CBP facilities.
To move UAC promptly out of CBP custody, ORR has sought to open previously used and new
temporary influx facilities and emergency intake sites to supplement its existing network of state-licensed
shelters. Such temporary facilities are typical y used for less than a year to accommodate sudden increases
in UAC apprehensions. These facilities are quicker and easier to scale up, and considerably larger than
conventional ORR-supervised shelters. They are often sited on federal y owned or leased properties and
typical y are not subject to state or local childcare licensing requirements. However, child advocates
contend that extended stays in these facilities can cause lasting emotional trauma for children, and that
ORR should more quickly place children with their sponsors.
Related Biden Administration initiatives include rescinding a biometric and legal status information-
sharing agreement between ORR and DHS that some contend discouraged noncitizens and unauthorized
persons from sponsoring unaccompanied children, authorizing ORR shelter operators to pay for some
children’s transportation costs, and restarting the Central American Minors (CAM) program that al ows
children to apply for asylum without traveling to the United States.


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Author Information

William A. Kandel

Analyst in Immigration Policy




Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United
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IN11638 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED

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