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As sirens wail in the background, migrant smugglers push adults and children through a hole beneath a border wall in a video provided by US Customs and Border Protection. An advocate for the migrants says it shows their desperation. (April 2)
AP, AP

The Trump administration is preparing to send Central American migrants caught along the southern border to Border Patrol stations “across the entire nation,” according to a senior Border Patrol official who confirmed the plans Friday.

With more than 4,500 people being caught each day crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, the agency has run out of room at its Border Patrol facilities in the four border states. The agency has started looking at its facilities around the country, which are mostly along the northern border with Canada and coastal states.

That means states from Oregon to North Dakota to Maine may begin receiving planeloads of migrant families in the weeks to come. On Tuesday, Customs and Border Protection sent its first plane full of migrants from Texas to San Diego. 

The official confirmed reports on Thursday that the Florida counties of Broward and Palm Beach are under consideration given the size and capabilities of Border Patrol stations in the South Florida region. But he did not say if the decision is final or when the flights would start.

More: Record number of migrants puts ‘severe pressure’ on Border Patrol facilities

Asked whether any federal funds would be provided to help local communities deal with the relocation of migrants, the CBP official on Friday said he was not “aware” of any such plans.

The CBP official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to brief reporters on the agency’s internal discussions, said politics is not playing a role in its search for places to process and release migrant families despite President Donald Trump’s comments that he wants to send migrants to so-called “sanctuary cities” that do not fully cooperate with federal immigration officials.

“Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities,” Trump tweeted last month.

Instead, the CBP official said they are searching only for Border Patrol facilities with the space and computer systems necessary to process large number of migrants each day. The official said the agency is not sending migrants to parts of the U.S. closest to their requested destinations, but making transportation decisions solely on each Border Patrol station’s ability to receive large numbers of migrants.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said on Thursday that he was told by local Border Patrol officials to expect flights to start arriving in the area within two weeks, and that South Florida would receive about 1,000 migrants a month.

Officials in both counties complained that the transfers are coming with no apparent plan to house, feed, or care for the migrants after they’re released from custody.

Migrants to Florida? Broward and Palm Beach officials worry about migrants dumped in their communities

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican and ardent supporter of Trump, said he didn’t know much beyond news reports about plans to release migrants in his state. But he said that if true, it would be a big problem.

“We cannot accommodate in Florida the dumping of unlawful migrants into our state. I think it will tax our resources, our schools, the healthcare, law enforcement, state agencies,” he said after a bill-signing ceremony Friday, according to the Miami Herald.

The CBP official could not estimate the average cost of each flight. But on Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which operates the flights, issued a public request for a contractor to handle up to 60,000 migrant transfers a year, with the vast majority of them (88%) being transfers by air.

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Guatemalan asylum seeker Miley blows bubbles at the new Casa del Refugiado in east El Paso, Texas, as her father Jaime looks on. Jaime said their life in Guatemala was getting very dangerous. “There are people who will kill you for a quetzal or your cell phone. People board the bus with a gun and rob everybody.” he said. “It’s hard to live there.”
Migrants find anywhere they can to sleep at the Albergue Para Migrantes “El Buen Pastor” in Juarez as they await their number to be called by U.S. authorities for their asylum hearing on May 1, 2019.
Border Patrol agents check a tunnel in the Rio Grande basin Wednesday as they search for asylum seekers on May 1, 2019 between El Paso and Juarez.
A Central American asylum seeker washes her family’s laundry in a sink at the Albergue Para Migrantes “El Buen Pastor” in Juarez. Asylum seekers are seeing long waits for their number to be called by U.S. authorities.
Border agents watch a popular crossing point along El Paso’s border with Juarez as asylum seekers continue to flow through the border on May 1, 2019.
A Guatemalan girl peeks from behind the pew she sleeps in at the Albergue Para Migrantes “El Buen Pastor” as her family awaits their number to be called for their initial asylum hearing on May 1, 2019.
A Border Patrol agent walks with a family of asylum seekers after they crossed the border near downtown El Paso. Hundreds of Central Americans are crossing into El Paso seeking asylum daily.
A tote board in the courtyard of the Albergue Para Migrantes “El Buen Pastor” lets asylum seekers know when their number is close. Many at the shelter had numbers well over 12,000.
Pastor Juan Fierro locks up a warehouse he is converting into additional shelter space for asylum seekers in Juarez on May 1, 2019. His current shelter Albergue Para Migrantes “El Buen Pastor,” which is across the street, is at capacity.
Asylum seekers at the Albergue Para Migrantes “El Buen Pastor” pass the times as they await their initial asylum hearings.
A young girl keeps warm under her blanket at the new Casa del Refugiado in east El Paso, Texas. Annunciaiton House, which houses asylum seekers, recently opened a 125,000-square-foot center which will house over 1,000 migrants once fully operational. The El Paso area is seeing over 1,000 migrant releases daily.
A Guatemalan man poses for a photo with his young son at the new Casa del Refugiado in east El Paso on April, 24, 2019. Behind him, a full-wall mural which reads Esperanza, or hope. The new 125,000 square foot center run by Annunciation House could house well over 1,000 asylum seekers once the facility is up to code. Annunciation house is asking for volunteer electricians, plumbers and others to help make the center livable.
Migrants are loaded onto a bus at the Border Patrol Headquarters on Hondo Pass in El Paso Saturday. The facility at the headquarters will grow as they build a large tent to house asylum seekers on Saturday, April, 20, 2019.
Asylum-seeking families with their children staying in tents housing waiting for their names to be called by CBP at the border in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. Residents in the twin cities of San Luis, Arizona and San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora remained a bit on edge over this potential scenario on Monday, although there were some more immediate concerns they had in the meantime.
Asylum-seeking families with their children staying in tents housing waiting for their names to be called by CBP at the border in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico.
Asylum-seeking families with their children staying in tents housing waiting for their names to be called by CBP at the border in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico.
Asylum-seeking families with their children staying in tents housing waiting for their names to be called by CBP at the border in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico on April 2, 2019.
Asylum-seeking families with their children staying in tents housing waiting for their names to be called by CBP at the border in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico.
Asylum-seeking families with their children staying in tents housing waiting for their names to be called by CBP at the border in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico.
Asylum-seeking families with their children staying in tents housing waiting for their names to be called by CBP at the border in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. Ana Landa Cenova, a single mother of two from Veracruz, Mexico, said she came to San Luis fleeing violence in her hometown. She said she expected that crossing through here would be easier than other larger cities, with longer wait times, or safer than through Texas. But she stays her so far has been filled with hardship, especially for her two children, a six-year-old Kimberly, and a one-year-old Emanuel. “It’s been so tough." She has been staying out for two months. She heard about Trump’s threats about possibly closing the border, and it worries her, not least of all, because she’s close to having her name called. “I’m among the next numbers that will be called, so I won’t lose my faith. Hopefully in the next week I’ll get called,” she said.
Asylum-seeking families with their children staying in tents housing waiting for their names to be called by CBP at the border in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. Ana Landa Cenova, a single mother of two from Veracruz, Mexico, said she came to San Luis fleeing violence in her hometown. She said she expected that crossing through here would be easier than other larger cities, with longer wait times, or safer than through Texas. But she stays her so far has been filled with hardship, especially for her two children, a six-year-old Kimberly, and a one-year-old Emanuel. “It’s been so tough.” She has been staying out for two months. She heard about Trump’s threats about possibly closing the border, and it worries her, not least of all, because she’s close to having her name called. “I’m among the next numbers that will be called, so I won’t lose my faith. Hopefully in the next week I’ll get called,” she said.

Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Border Patrol has complained that its facilities have been overwhelmed by the record number of migrant families crossing the border, most of them requesting asylum to stay in the U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is responsible for interior immigration enforcement and has more detention space available, has also said it’s running out of space.

That led Border Patrol agents in March to begin releasing migrants directly into local communities, at bus stations, community shelters, churches and other places along the border. That’s been happening in Tucson since March. 

CBP tried shuttling migrants between Border Patrol stations along the southern border, sending busloads of migrants from the flooded Rio Grande Valley sector in eastern Texas to other Border Patrol facilities in central and western Texas.

Now, the agency is looking all around the country to find more facilities that can help process the migrants. The migrants would be processed, given a date to appear in immigration court and then released into the community.