Of the 473,682 immigrants apprehended while illegally entering the United States with a family member during fiscal 2019, 375,000 were released into the interior of the country, Border Patrol officials told the Washington Examiner.
Starting last March, departing from its usual procedure, the Border Patrol released 145,000 people directly from its custody rather than turning them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The other 230,000 were transferred to ICE and released from ICE facilities.
The 145,000 family members released by the Border Patrol who were not transferred to ICE were released with a legal document known as a “notice to appear,” which states when they should show up for a hearing to determine if they will be returned to their county of origin. A large number of those issued such a notice fail to show up for the hearings. This, essentially, is a continuation of the “catch and release” policy, where illegal border crossers were given such a notice and released instead of being detained and processed for deportation.
President Trump has promised to end the “catch and release” policy practiced by the Obama administration, but these latest statistics from the Border Patrol indicate this change has not yet been implemented.
As we observed last April, so many illegal aliens are roaming the streets of Yuma, Arizona, that the mayor declared a state of emergency.
We also noted last August that the release of nearly half the illegal aliens arrested in an August raid in Mississippi was disappointing for those who were expecting President Trump to do as he promised.
In testimony before the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs last August, Mark Morgan, chief of Customs and Border Protection, confessed to Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) that his agents are releasing illegals who show up in “families” almost immediately after they’re apprehended.
Federal immigration investigators have determined that nearly 6,000 such “families” were fake; that is, aliens brought children with them who were not their own to gain entry into the United States.
The Examiner reported that ICE deported 267,258 people in 2019, including 5,702 people who arrived with a family member and 6,351 unaccompanied children. The remainder were people arrested inside the country by ICE and single adults arrested at the southern border.
Another program, the Interior Repatriation Initiative (IRI) — a joint agreement between the governments of the United States and Mexico — has resulted in more than 1,000 Mexicans who were in the United States illegally being returned to Mexico. The program is designed to ensure that those repatriated to Mexico are returned closer to their homes in a safe and expeditious manner.
Under IRI, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations provides air transportation to Guadalajara International Airport in Guadalajara, Mexico. The government of Mexico then provides additional transportation to their cities of origin.
Image: gguy44 via iStock / Getty Images Plus
Warren Mass has served The New American since its launch in 1985 in several capacities, including marketing, editing, and writing. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at [email protected].
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