The Biden administration has maintained that its policy at the southern border during the COVID-19 pandemic is to expel families trying to enter the United States. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, for instance, said there are only "narrow, narrow circumstances in which families can't be expelled." But Department of Homeland Security data leaked to Axios suggests expulsions are actually happening infrequently.
The data reportedly shows an average of 13 percent of nearly 13,000 family members attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border were turned away between March 14 and March 21, which Axios notes is "a sign of how the administration is struggling to keep up with a migration surge." But it also highlights the fact that Mexico has been unable to take in the amount of families the U.S. would otherwise turn away. "In situations where expulsion is not possible due to Mexico's inability to receive the families, they are placed into removal proceedings," a DHS spokesperson told Axios. Those proceedings can sometimes take years, Axios writes. Read more at Axios.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
How to go on your own Race Across the WorldThe Week Recommends The BBC hit show is inspiring fans to choose low-budget adventures
-
The rebirth of MonacoThe Week Recommends The billionaires' playground is pulling out all the stops to entice Gen Z
-
Sudoku hard: June 3, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Nationalist wins tight Polish presidential electionspeed read Karol Nawrocki beat Rafal Trzaskowski in Poland's presidential runoff election
-
Ukraine hits Russia's bomber fleet in stealth drone attackspeed read The operation, which destroyed dozens of warplanes, is the 'biggest blow of the war against Moscow's long-range bomber fleet'
-
Starving Gazans overrun US-backed food aid hubspeed read Israeli troops fired warning shots at the Palestinians
-
Israel's Western allies pull back amid Gaza escalationspeed read Britain and the EU are reconsidering allegiance with Israel as the Gaza siege continues
-
Trump drops ceasefire demand after Putin callspeed read Following a phone call with Russia's president, Trump backed off an earlier demand that Putin agree to an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine
-
Pro-EU centrist beats Trump acolyte in Romania votespeed read The mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, defeated hard-right nationalist George Simion in the race for Romania's presidency
-
Israel-US 'rift': is Trump losing patience with Netanyahu?Today's Big Question US president called for an end to Gaza war and negotiated directly with Hamas to return American hostage, amid rumours of strained relations
-
Kurdish PKK militia to disband for Turkey talksspeed read The Kurdistan Workers' Party will disarm after four decades of armed conflict with Turkey, putting an end to 'one of the longest insurgencies in the Middle East'
