- Data from Customs and Border Protection suggests the apparent surge in migrants at the border is the result of a routine seasonal trend and pent-up demand in the pandemic. [Washington Post / Tom K. Wong, Gabriel De Roche, and Jesus Rojas Venzor]
- A picture of the situation at the border became more clear over the weekend, when a report showed that the administration currently has 15,500 unaccompanied minors in custody at emergency shelters and facilities, some of which have been compared to jails. They stay for an average of five days. [Vox / Anya van Wagtendok]
- The border struggles are being compounded by coronavirus health concerns. Officials at the Carrizo Springs Influx Care Facility in Texas, for example, said there have been 108 positive tests among the 766 children at the facility. [NBC News / Lauren Egan, Gabe Gutierrez, and Dareh Gregorian]
- As political pressure mounts on President Joe Biden to manage the influx of migrants arriving at the southern border, he has tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to manage a portfolio of immigration-related issues. [CNN / Kevin Liptak and Jasmine Wright]
- As the new immigration point person, Harris is stepping into a politically fraught issue in which major legislation has been elusive in recent years. The role will be a foreign policy one, in which she will be tasked with addressing the root causes of migration in Central America and working with leaders in Mexico and Northern Triangle countries to address the surge. [Politico / Eugene Daniels]
- Republicans are already seeking to punish Biden and Harris on this issue, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy leading a caucus trip to the border to declare the border influx to have been created by Biden’s positive messaging on immigration. [Intelligencer / Matt Stieb]
- Meanwhile, a group of bipartisan senators discussed immigration at a weekly lunch — a rare, if potentially futile, attempt to build consensus. Because an immigration bill would not be budget-related and would need to clear the 60-vote filibuster hurdle, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said any immigration deal would have to go through the bipartisan group. [Washington Post / Paul Kane]
- Another bipartisan group convened by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) gathered specifically to talk immigration yesterday — though expectations are decidedly low. A comprehensive immigration bill “is never going to work,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said, but smaller items like asylum reform have better chances. [Politico / Sabrina Rodriguez, Burgess Everett, and Marianne Levine]
- But even bills that used to have bipartisan support have been swept aside by Republicans in favor of using the border surge as a political punching bag. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), for example, co-sponsored a bill this year offering legal status to Dreamers. He now says due to the border situation, he would not even vote for it. [The Los Angeles Times / Sarah D. Wire]
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