According to US officials, the Biden administration may detain illegal immigrant families as it prepares to repeal COVID-19 restrictions at the US-Mexico border.

Officials stopped detaining families in late 2021. Homeland Security officials anticipate a surge in migrants at the border after the COVID-19 limits are released in May. According to officials, detention is one of several options being considered.

According to one official, families detained for a few days will have their immigration court cases expedited. Officials spoke anonymously to the AP about internal conflicts.

“Rumors” that the proposal was under discussion were ignored by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “I’m not saying it is or isn’t,” she remarked Tuesday.

She refused to say whether President Biden thinks family detention is humane. Biden wants “comprehensive immigration reform,” according to the Hill.

Families who cross the border between the United States and Mexico are released and ordered to appear in immigration court later. Currently, single individuals who cross the border illegally are being held in facilities that held few families during the outbreak. The United States is restricting migrants as a record number of asylum seekers cross the Mexican border.

Immigration advocates argued against detaining families again, citing research on the harm it causes children and families. Many people were taken aback when they learned that families would no longer be held.