Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said Sunday officials are "concerned" about the “increasing” amount of time the children of illegal immigrants are being kept in custody at the southern border.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” McAleenan said additional funding from Congress must be approved to keep the overcrowding at processing facilities from getting worse.
"I think what we're concerned about is the average hours in custody is increasing,” he said. “That's why [the Department of Health and Human Services] needs this funding,” he said.
“They need to be able to buy additional beds, especially for teenage males, which is the number one demographic crossing now unaccompanied as children. We need to move people quickly to HHS custody — to a better situation.”
McAleenan said the number of illegal border crossings increased in May, and that the Department of Defense is helping with the overcrowding.
“We're working with the DOD,” he said. “They'll help with 7,500 additional spaces to prevent people from being too crowded. We've put up 1,000 temporary facility spaces on the border in Texas. We'll add Arizona this month. We're driving as hard as we can to provide a better scenario.”
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