As More Migrants Arrive, U.S. Expands Efforts To Identify And Admit Most Vulnerable

The Biden administration is ramping up exceptions to a public health order that has largely shut the U.S.-Mexico border to migrant traffic since last year because of the pandemic.

More migrants are being granted humanitarian exceptions because they are considered the most vulnerable, including families with young children and transgender people who had been living in dangerous conditions in Mexican border towns.

This comes as the number of migrants apprehended at the southern border topped 170,000 in April for the second consecutive month. The majority are still being turned away, but an increasing number of single adults and families are being allowed into the U.S. to seek asylum.

"We are working to streamline a system for identifying and lawfully processing particularly vulnerable individuals who warrant humanitarian exceptions under the order," Homeland