More than 20,000 children, mostly from Central America, are currently being held in facilities operated by Health and Human Services (HHS) at a taxpayer cost of at least $60 million per week. Most of the children crossed the border illegally within the last two months. In March, almost 19,000 unaccompanied minors—a record number—were apprehended by Border Patrol, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The number doubled from February when 9,400 were apprehended, whereas the preceding three months hovered around 5,000 per month. Border Patrol is required to transfer custody of unaccompanied minors to HHS within 72 hours. However, the sheer numbers have become overwhelming and children are staying in crowded CBP holding facilities for sometimes more than a week. HHS started releasing data on the number of unaccompanied minors it was holding on March 23—which was 11,551. Since then, HHS has opened several emergency holding centers, including converted convention …