The Biden administration is expanding efforts to vaccinate migrants in U.S. custody against the coronavirus as border authorities prepare for potential policy changes that could increase the number of people they need to process, according to a notification shared with Congress and obtained by CBS News.
U.S. agents will begin to offer COVID-19 vaccines to migrants in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody who are processed under regular immigration procedures and can’t show proof of vaccination, the March 25 notification states.
The vaccination efforts are set to start at 11 locations along the southern border, before expanding to 16 additional sites by April 8, according to the congressional notification, which says officials hope to distribute 2,700 vaccines per day during the first phase. After expanding to phase 2, slated to begin on April 18, officials expect to be able to vaccinate up to 6,000 migrants daily by late May.
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Before [the March 28] announcement, the U.S. had only offered COVID-19 vaccination to immigrants in long-term Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, migrant children in the federal shelter system and fewer than 2,000 asylum-seekers enrolled in a program that requires them to await their court hearings in Mexico.
