Child border crossings are surging, straining US facilities

(AP) — A surge of migrants on the Southwest border has the Biden administration on the defensive.

The head of Homeland Security acknowledges the severity of the problem but insists it’s under control and says he won’t revive a Trump-era practice of immediately expelling teens and children.

President Joe Biden said bluntly in an ABC News interview that aired Wednesday: “Don’t come over.”

An official says U.S. authorities encountered nearly double the number of children traveling alone across the Mexican border in one day this week than on an average day last month. The administration is rushing to open temporary child holding facilities, while Republicans blame Democrats for easing the child-expulsion rules and talking up other proposed changes.