3/14/21

By Karla Rader Barber

There has been a lot of debate and discussion within this group over the last few days about influx shelter and their place in the current situation at the border. Many of us argue that there are 2 key ways to reduce the need to increase shelter space, and thus reduce the need for large influx shelters like Homestead and Carrizo Springs.

The first is to reduce the number of unaccompanied children crossing the border. There is evidence that Title 42 is responsible for some children crossing unaccompanied. They arrive at the border with their parents or a family member, but because the adults are not allowed to cross they choose to send the children unaccompanied to cross the border. Rescind Title 42.

The second is to reduce the time each child is held by ORR. Some say ‘well you can’t just drop them on the highway’. I have not heard anyone in this group suggest that dropping children on the side of I10 is what should be done. But, reducing the average number of days that children, especially those who are in Category 1 and Category 2, are held by ORR reduces the number of beds needed to house the children. The math is really simple. If 450 children are arriving at the border every day and the average days held by ORR is 40 days, then 18K beds will be needed to house those children. However, if the average stay in ORR was reduced to 10 days then 4.5K beds are needed. At a cost of $750/day/child; a 40 day stay costs the US taxpayer $30,000. A 10 day stay costs $7500. That is a savings of $22.5K per child.

I would add a third - if unaccompanied children have to go to an ORR facility - send them to a facility near their final destination. For example, if a child says they are trying to reunite with a parent in Chicago, send them to an ORR facility in Illinois; don’t send them to Florida where their parent has no chance of visiting.

There is a concept in manufacturing called JIT (Just In Time). It applies to the raw materials and parts needed to manufacture a product. Rather than ordering and storing huge quantities that need to be stored and thus requiring more warehouse space; ordering and delivery is timed such that materials/parts arrive JIT. Another way to reduce manufacturing cost is to reduce the time it takes to build something.

I am not suggesting the unaccompanied minors are widgets in a manufacturing line. But, the challenges faced at the border are essentially a supply chain problem and some of the principals that are used to reduce cost and gain efficiencies in manufacturing can be utilized to think about the process of reuniting unaccompanied children with their families in an expedient fashion. Find the bottle necks, improve the processes, eliminate unnecessary/redundant steps, reduce the amount of time in detention, reunite families faster and reduce costs. Maybe this is where FEMA can help?