The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to expand its use of detention facilities to house immigrants who cross the border illegally, calling for 15,000 more beds to be available for detained migrants in upcoming weeks.
The Associated Press reports that immigration authorities issued a notice Friday stating they could seek up to 15,000 more beds to detain families.
The notice follows President Trump signing an executive order on Wednesday mandating the end of the administration’s family separation policy.
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The Justice Department has also asked a California court to allow the agency to detain children longer and in locations that do not require state licensing, the AP reports.
“The current situation is untenable,” August Flentje, special counsel to the assistant attorney general, wrote in court filings.
According to the AP, detained families who fail initial screenings are allowed to appeal their status in a video conference with a judge, a process lasting an average of six weeks.
That’s shorter than how long families were detained under the Obama administration, the AP notes.
Michelle Brane, a migrant rights director at the Women’s Refugee Commission, accused the Justice Department of trying to bypass child welfare laws in its rush to detain migrant families.
“You will have children in facilities that are entirely inappropriate for children and are not meeting child welfare standards,” Brane told the AP. “They are trying to circumvent child welfare standards.”
Customs and Border Protection stated Friday that it would reunite all migrant children separated from their families that day, though that figure does not include the thousands of separated children who were previously detained and already handed over to the Department of Health and Human Services.