On March 25, 2021, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued an urgent memorandum for current GS-9 to GS-15 federal employees to volunteer for 120-day details to the southern border. The number of unaccompanied children at the southern border of the United States has increased significantly since the beginning of 2021, causing the Biden administration to request additional support to care for and place the unaccompanied children.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to launch an effort to care for unaccompanied children who are entering the United States from the southern border.