When President Biden came under fire in March for the humanitarian crisis unfolding at the border, his administration scrambled to transfer the record number of migrant children being held in crude, jail-like facilities run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, more than 5,700 at one point, into the care of the Department of Health and Human Services. According to federal law, minors aren’t supposed to be held by Border Patrol for more than 72 hours. Many were being held for weeks.
