Highest number of migrant children in border facilities since government started releasing data

The number of unaccompanied migrant children in border facilities reached its highest point on Sunday since the federal government began releasing data last week.

There were 5,767 children in Customs and Border Protection custody on Sunday, up from 5,495 children on Thursday. The numbers have gone up each day the data has been released, and Sunday marks the most recent data available.

The overall number of unaccompanied migrant children in US government custody, however, ticked down slightly from more than 18,000 children last Thursday to around 17,650 on Sunday, the data shows.

The latest custody data illustrates how the Biden administration continues to struggle with large numbers of unaccompanied children in its care, particularly in its inability to move kids out of border facilities and into more appropriate Health and Human Services custody.

The number of children apprehended by CBP and placed in border facilities on Sunday again outpaced the number of children transferred to HHS, the agency charged with caring for migrant minors once they enter the US.

This story is breaking and will be updated.