Leaked Data Suggest a Daily Average of 441 Unaccompanied Children at Border This Year

Unaccompanied illegal immigrant children wait to be transported by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States from Mexico in La Joya, Texas, on April 7, 2021. Go Nakamura/Reuters

An average of 441 children will cross the U.S.–Mexico border alone every day this year, surpassing last year’s record, data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show.

“DHS projections call for approximately 148,000 and 161,000 [unaccompanied children] referrals to [Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement] this year. With monthly projections exceeding those seen in FY 2021,” says a document obtained by the Washington Examiner. It reportedly detailed the response plan to the influx from the Department of Health and Human Services as of January 2022.