After media reports stated that migrant children were forced to remain on board buses overnight while waiting for relocation away from the border, the White House vowed to investigate the incident, and called it “outrageous.”  

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the Biden administration will probe the incident and how it “possibly happened.”

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“There is no excuse to this treatment,” Jen Psaki said, and further added, “In terms of what the consequences will be, I just can’t predict that before an investigation has concluded.”

The local media reports said the children used the toilet in the bus and ate while aboard. 

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A 15-year-old boy, hailing from Honduras, was left on board a bus from Saturday to Wednesday in Texas’ Dallas, reported NCB News and Dallas Morning News. 

The bus then departed for a long journey covering a distance of over 3,200 km, reuniting the boy with his mother in Seattle, a BBC report said.

Some children wait on the vehicles for only a few hours while others are kept for the night, reported NBC News reported, quoting the bus owner. Bus coaches are often littered with refuse as some have overflowing bathrooms. 

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This came as the United States is witnessing an increased influx of migrant children to facilities. 

Nearly 19,000 unaccompanied migrant minors, a record, crossed through the US border in the southern part in the month of March. This was followed by 17,200 in April.