Surge in migrant children at government shelters as Trump admin pushes "zero tolerance"

Nearly 11,000 migrant children are in government custody without their parents, according to federal health officials — a 22 percent increase from April as the Trump administration has ramped up prosecution of parents who cross the border with their children.

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A total of 10,852 migrant children were in shelters run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a spokesman with the department’s Administration for Children and Families told NBC News on Wednesday. Those shelters are currently at 95 percent capacity, meaning they have 575 open beds, he said.

On Tuesday, The Washington Post first reported, 10,773 children were in government shelters — indicating an increase of 79 children in just one day.

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