(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — As the Biden administration prepares for the possible end of the immigration restriction known as Title 42 — which could lead to an increase of people attempting to cross the southern border — sources say government officials are weighing whether to detain migrant families who illegally enter the country, a politically fraught move on an issue that invites near-constant scrutiny.

The deliberations about potentially detaining migrant families, which the Biden administration stopped doing in 2021, were confirmed by sources familiar with the matter.

One source, who declined to be named in order to discuss internal policy deliberations, stressed that no decisions have been made and the conversations about migrant family detention have been limited in scope and focused on the short period of time needed for swift processing.

The detentions, under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would be limited to a small number of days, another source told ABC News — unlike during the Trump administration, which tried to detain families indefinitely.

The sources also insisted that processing for those detained would comply with federal standards, including a 20-day cap on the amount of time they are held.

The administration has, more broadly, taken steps in recent months to speed up its processing of detained migrants.

But the possible return to detaining migrants families quickly ignited political blowback from key members of President Joe Biden’s party.

“I’m alarmed by news reports that the Administration is considering reinstating family detention policies,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said Tuesday. “If the reports are true, I strongly urge the Administration to reconsider this policy change and instead work towards implementing immigration policies that are humane, orderly, and in line with our American values.”

Rep. Nanette Barragán, the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, called reports that the Biden administration is considering detaining migrant families “deeply concerning.”

“A just, safe, and humane immigration system should not place families in detention,” Barragán said, in part, in a statement. “We should not return to the failed policies of the past where families are detained in substandard conditions with long term damage to children.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday declined to comment on the possibility that the administration could go back to detaining migrant families while not ruling it out either.

“I’m not saying it is being considered … and I’m not saying it is not,” Jean-Pierre said. “I’m saying that I’m not going to speak to rumors,”

When asked why Biden might consider detaining migrant families, given he stopped the policy shortly after taking office, Jean-Pierre again punted.

“He is going to use the tools that he has before him to make sure that we deal with an immigration system, where we build an immigration system that’s again, safe, orderly and humane,” she said.

The administration has continued to prepare for the end of the public health order known as Title 42, which restricts immigration during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A federal judge initially ruled the restriction had to lift by December, finding it “arbitrary and capricious,” with minimal public health impact. But 19 largely Republican-led states appealed and the matter is now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Luis Miranda reiterated in a statement this week that while “no decisions have been made” about family detention, “The Administration will continue to prioritize safe, orderly, and humane processing of migrants.”

But Republican state leaders like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and GOP lawmakers in Washington have argued that the president’s policies are “reckless” and expose the U.S. to too much harm from immigration — including as a burden on government resources and via the flow of deadly narcotics.

Conservatives often cite record numbers of border crossings over the past year.

Recently the administration has taken steps to crack down on unauthorized migration while opening new, limited avenues for humanitarian relief for those fleeing violence and persecution.

Parole programs allowing Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants to apply for entry from abroad have been paired with new restrictions that allow authorities to return migrants from those countries back to Mexico.

The administration is also currently working to implement a new rule to bar entry for migrants who cross illegally, seeking asylum, without first seeking refuge elsewhere.

But the administration has been under fire from both Republicans, who have fought the humanitarian pathways in court, and from Democrats concerned about turning away migrants with legitimate claims.

Immigrant advocates said this week that the administration considering again detaining families along with some of the other recent proposals were an embrace of Trump-like policies and a reversal of campaign promises from Biden.

“Children should be released from ICE detention with their parents immediately. This is pretty simple, and I can’t believe I have to say it: Families belong together,” then-candidate Biden tweeted in 2020.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which has levied legal challenges against family detention by other administrations, said it will consider fighting any attempt by Biden to implement similar policies.

“If President Biden moves forward with these plans, he will be putting vulnerable, traumatized immigrant children at risk. We will fight him every step of the way,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said.

The Immigration Hub’s Executive Director Sergio Gonzales said family detention would not deter migrants rom seeking asylum in the U.S. and may also prompt people to separate out of fear that their children would be detained.

“There’s no credible research that I have seen that has shown that when you jail families, it actually stops people from coming to our border,” Gonzales told ABC News. “They’re literally fleeing for their lives when they come to our border. They believe they have no other choice.”

In 2018, Drs. Scott Allen and Pamela McPherson, two subject matter experts in medical and mental health who work with the DHS’ Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, raised alarm to DHS and Congress about the dangers family detention poses for children.

On Tuesday, the doctors sent a letter to President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warning the same.

“No amount of programming can ameliorate the harms created by the very act of confining children to detention centers,” they wrote.

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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — First lady Jill Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday hosted the 17th annual International Women of Courage Awards — and for the first time, the ceremony took place at the White House, on “the biggest stage we could,” Biden said.

The pair honored 11 global women leaders — some from countries embroiled in crisis — to mark International Women’s Day and recognize those with “exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equity and equality, often at great personal risk and sacrifice.” Since 2007, the State Department has given out the courage awards to more than 180 women from more than 80 countries.

“Today, we’re here to tell girls everywhere the truth that they need to hear: Yes, you matter. Yes, you can make a difference,” Biden said at the White House’s East Room.

“That’s why we wanted to bring the leaders we’re honoring today, and the stories that they share, to the biggest stage we could: The White House. And, Tony, thank you for helping us do that,” she said.

The 2023 event honored Yuliia “Taira” Paievska, who led a volunteer unit of paramedics in Ukraine and spent three months in Russian captivity after getting detained in Mariupol for attempting to evacuate women and children in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

Earlier on Wednesday, the White House released a statement from President Joe Biden to mark the day. He noted the gender abuses in conflict-ridden countries like Afghanistan and Ukraine.

“Despite decades of progress, in far too many places around the world, the rights of women and girls are still under attack, holding back entire communities,” he said.

“We see it in Afghanistan, where the Taliban bars women and girls from attending school and pursuing employment. We see it in Iran, where the regime is brutally repressing the voices of women who are courageously standing up for their freedom. And in the face of Russia’s vicious and unjust invasion of Ukraine, including the use of rape as a weapon of war, we see countless stories of women bravely fighting for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Ukrainians,” he continued.

At Wednesday’s ceremony, Jill Biden applauded Blinken’s leadership in addressing foreign crises like in Ukraine, and Blinken highlighted the administration’s work to push forward gender equality abroad.

“President Biden has made gender equality and women’s rights a priority of our foreign policy,” Blinken remarked, nodding to the creation of the “first ever” cross-government strategy on women’s global economic security, a gender policy council and updated strategies to respond to gender-based violence globally, including new efforts to expand access to programs for historically marginalized communities.

Other honorees at the courage awards included independent Ethiopian journalist Meaza Mohammed, who has been covering gender-focused violence in the country; Zakira Hekmat, an Afghan doctor and advocate who grew up and was secretly educated under Taliban rule; and Doris Ríos, an indigenous rights leader from Costa Rica, among others.

The Madeleine Albright Honorary Group Award went to the women and girl protestors of Iran who embarked on months of grassroots demonstrations across Iran’s 31 provinces following the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian woman taken into custody for allegedly improperly wearing a hijab.

MORE: Afghans and advocates speak out after Taliban bans women from working with aid groups
“Women in all of their diversity are often the ones on the front lines of change. And yet at the same time, they face still greater obstacles to their political participation,” Blinken said Wednesday.

“Defending the rights of women and girls is rooted in our democratic values of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all,” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the State Department marked International Women’s Day by announcing coordinated action with its allies intended to “to promote accountability for the Iranian regime’s human rights abuses,” particularly against women and girls in the wake of the death of Amini.

Blinken announced sanctions against two Iranian officials overseeing prisons in Iran which he alleged were complicit in the gross mistreatment of prisoners, two senior Iranian security leaders who he said ordered the detention and torture of protestors, three companies that supply Iranian law enforcement & their CEOS, and another high-ranking law enforcement officer in the country for imposing censorship policies.

Jill Biden closed her Wednesday remarks with a call for accountability of men to uphold gender-based freedoms.

“As much as we need women who are willing to speak up, we need more men who are willing to listen and act,” she said.

“We need more men to hold each other accountable when their sisters are being hurt or left behind. We need more men who nurture families, who feed and teach and mentor, who build safer communities. We need more men who know that caring, collaboration, and kindness are signs of strength, not weakness.”

ABC News’ Shannon Crawford contributed to this report.

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