U.S. border officials say that illegal aliens no longer evade capture at the border. In fact, they say, illegals want to be caught.
The reason? If they show up in a “family unit,” and likely sometimes not, border agents will simply release them on a promise to return for an immigration hearing.
But here’s the problem. They don’t show up for the hearings to resolve their “asylum” claims. Most likely, they don’t show because they’re lying, but the main point is they don’t show up. Thus, the White House has said, it’s virtually impossible to kick them out of the country.
And not just a few of the illegals duck their obligation to return for an asylum hearing. Almost all do.
Unpleasant Truth
That news surfaced in a hearing today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Fox News reported, when chieftain Lindsey Graham of South Carolina asked acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan the simple question:
How many illegals actually show up in court?
“It depends on demographics, the court, but we see too many cases where people are not showing up,” the cabinet chief said, Fox News reported, “telling Graham that DHS recently conducted a pilot program with family units.”
Here’s the exchange:
“Out of those 7,000 cases, 90 received final orders of removal in absentia, 90 percent,” he said.
“90 percent did not show up?” Graham asked.
“Correct, that is a recent sample from families crossing the border,” McAleenan clarified.
The reason is catch and release, and the leftist immigration laws and policies that block the indefinite detention of the prevaricating, border-jumping miscreants.
“Currently due to a single district court order,” McAleenan said, “we cannot obtain effective immigration enforcement results for the families arriving at our border — they cannot be held for longer than 21 days and do not receive rulings from immigration courts for years.”
He also said the restrictions on how long family units can be held mean that a child is now seen as a passport to the U.S. — a perception he said is based in reality. He testified that only 30 percent of those coming to the border are actually trying to avoid being captured.
“Unless you’re a single adult, it is very unlikely you’ll be repatriated,” he said.
They Want to Get Caught
Border officials have frankly acknowledged that lying illegals use weak U.S. law — the sure knowledge they can’t be kicked out of the country — to declare squatter’s right and never leave.
In March, when Brian Hastings, operations chief for Customs and Border Protection, said the numbers at the border were “unsustainable,” he added that the illegals know that border authorities will let them go to disappear into the country. Word has gotten back to Central America, he said, that the United States won’t kick them out.
“It’s well-known at this time that adults with children will not be detained during the immigration proceedings for illegal entry,” he said. “The word of mouth and social media quickly gets back to those in the Northern Triangle countries, that if you bring a child you’ll be successful.”
Aaron Hull, border chief for the El Paso Sector of the border, said likewise. “They’re not trying to get away,” he told CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo. Hull told the television host the same thing. The illegals know they’ll be released. Thus, they want to be caught.
After that, of course, they disappear … and don’t show for hearings. They become all but impossible to remove, as the White House said in its border-crisis report in January.
Indeed, the report said, 98 percent of family units and unaccompanied minors aren’t removed even though 90 percent of asylum claims are bogus.
And immigration courts are backlogged with nearly a million cases.
Sneaking In
As The New American reported earlier today, border agents are fighting what appears to be a losing battle given the sheer numbers at the border and the organized, well-financed effort to break down the border. Smugglers earn upwards of $2.3 billion annually moving illegals from Central American through Mexico to the U.S. border.
How bad is it?
The White House released video days ago that depicted illegal digging under the border wall in the Yuma Sector. Instead of blocking their entrance, border agents watched the group of 38 enter, then apprehended them, undoubtedly for release later on.
More than 144,000 illegals crossed the border in May, bringing the total for fiscal 2019 close to more than 675,000.
Photo: AP Images
