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Increasing Numbers of Unaccompanied Alien
Children at the Southwest Border
Updated August 5, 2021
The number of encounters (apprehensions or expulsions) of unaccompanied alien children (UAC,
unaccompanied children) at the U.S.-Mexico border with the Department of Homeland Security’s
(DHS’s) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the first nine months of FY2021 (93,512) already
exceeds the previous apprehensions record from FY2019 (76,020). UAC encounters declined
substantial y from FY2019 to FY2020, largely because of the COVID-19 pandemic and related public-
health border enforcement measures. Starting in June 2020, they increased consistently before almost
doubling from January to February 2021 and again from February to March. They have since remained
elevated. March 2021 UAC encounters (18,723) were the highest monthly total on record (Figure 1). U.S.
officials say figures for July may exceed the March record number, and the figures for the rest of FY2021
are also expected to remain elevated.
Figure 1. UAC Encounters at Southwest Border by Month, FY2018-FY2021*
Source: FY2018: CBP, “U.S. Border Patrol Southwest Border Apprehensions by Sector FY2018.†FY2019-FY2021: CBP,
“Southwest Land Border Encounters.â€
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Notes: *FY2021 figures represent nine months (or three-quarters) of the fiscal year, from October 1, 2020, through June
30, 2021. Figures for FY2020 and FY2021 include Title 8 apprehensions and Title 42 expulsions; those for FY2018 and
FY2019 include only apprehensions. Figure 1 does not present statistics on UAC deemed inadmissible.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) exercises an authority under Title 42 of the U.S. Code (public health) that permits DHS to rapidly
expel individuals who lack valid visas or are apprehended between U.S. ports of entry in order to prevent
the spread of COVID-19 (expulsions). However, a federal judge halted UAC expulsions in November
2020, and the Biden Administration formal y rescinded UAC expulsions in February 2021. CBP currently
apprehends virtual y al unaccompanied children under Title 8 of the U.S. Code (immigration), as in prior
years.
Unaccompanied alien children are statutorily defined as minors under age 18 who lack both lawful U.S.
immigration status and a parent or legal guardian in the United States who is available to provide care and
physical custody. UAC treatment and processing are governed by several statutes and a legal settlement.
These provisions require that arriving UAC 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 promptly repatriate Mexican and Canadian
unaccompanied children who are not trafficking victims or who do not fear persecution in their countries.
UAC apprehensions have increased and fluctuated substantial y in the past decade (Figure 2). FY2020
saw a decline to 30,557 encounters—which included 19,618 Title 8 apprehensions and 10,939 Title 42
expulsions that only occurred in the second half of the fiscal year—as the result of the pandemic. In the
first nine months of FY2021, the 93,512 UAC encounters included 88,866 apprehensions and 4,646
expulsions, the latter occurring largely in October and November. Most apprehended UAC originate from
Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico; these countries have
reversed places in terms of dominating the UAC flow. Mexican children accounted for 73% of UAC
apprehensions in FY2012, compared to 20% of UAC encounters in FY2021.
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Figure 2. UAC Encounters at Southwest Border by Country of Origin, FY2011-FY2021*
Sources: FY2011-FY2013: United States Border Patrol, “Juvenile and Adult Apprehensions—Fiscal Year 2013.†FY2014-
FY2018: CBP, “U.S. Border Patrol Southwest Border Apprehensions by Sector FY2018.†FY2019-FY2021: CBP,
“Southwest Land Border Encounters.â€
Notes: *FY2021 figures represent nine months of the fiscal year. FY2020 and FY2021 figures include Title 8 apprehensions
and Title 42 expulsions; al other years’ figures include only apprehensions. Figure 2 excludes statistics on UAC deemed
inadmissible which are unavailable before FY2017.
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 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, during which 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. ORR also followed CDC public health guidelines and reduced the number of
children al owed in its shelters. Consequently, when referrals significantly increased in early 2021, the
agency lacked shelter capacity. Initial y, many UAC were housed temporarily in CBP facilities (which
were not designed to hold children), often for periods exceeding the 72-hour legal limit. CDC then
directed ORR to accommodate children at full capacity, maintaining that relaxing COVID-19 guidelines
at ORR shelters, despite potential health risks, was preferable to prolonged stays in CBP facilities.
To move UAC promptly out of CBP custody, ORR has also sought to open large temporary influx
facilities and emergency intake sites to supplement its existing shelters. Such temporary facilities
accommodate UAC surges, scale up relatively quickly, are often sited on federal y owned or leased
properties, and are typical y not state licensed. Child advocates contend that
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stays in these facilities can cause lasting emotional trauma for children, and that ORR should expedite
reunifying children with sponsors.
Related Biden Administration initiatives include the following:
ï‚· rescinding a DHS-ORR information-sharing agreement that reportedly discouraged
relatives lacking lawful immigration status from sponsoring children;
 authorizing ORR to pay for some children’s transportation costs; and
ï‚· restarting the Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program that al ows
children to apply for refugee status without traveling to the United States.
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
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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 5 · UPDATED