Report: Hundreds of migrant kids are being held in Border Patrol stations

A migrant girl crosses into El Paso.
(Image credit: Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images)

As of Sunday, more than 700 unaccompanied minors who crossed into the United States from Mexico were in Border Patrol custody, Axios reports.

The children were waiting to be sent to shelters that are overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services. Migrant kids are not supposed to be held in Border Patrol stations for more than 72 hours. An internal Customs and Border Protection document obtained by Axios states that as of 8:15 a.m. on Sunday, nine of the unaccompanied minors had been detained for longer than 72 hours, and more than 200 had been there for over 48 hours.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.