According to a report, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that “more than 85%” of immigrants apprehended at the southern border are released into the United States. fox news.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas acknowledged this Monday during a private meeting with border officials at the busy Eagle Pass crossing in Texas, according to three people who were present.
More than 81,000 immigrants turned themselves in in October and November in the Del Rio area, where Eagle Pass is located, in search of a new life in the United States.
Since then, the border siege has only intensified, with a record 302,000 migrants per month being encountered. According to ABC sourcesmost of which are swept away into this country.
The arrivals are no longer just people fleeing poverty, political instability and gang violence in Central America, but immigrants from China, Turkey, Afghanistan and all over Africa seeking a place for themselves on American soil.
Mayorkas, who is facing impeachment hearings from House Republicans over his handling of the immigration crisis, was grilled by his representatives during an interview on Fox last week in which he said, “If… I wouldn't be surprised at all if the presidential election were to happen.” The number of releases was over 70%.
Officials said investigators did not believe the release rate was that low, and Mr. Mayorkas eventually acknowledged that the current release rate was over 85%.
Once immigrants are admitted to the United States to apply for asylum, they must check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) periodically.
The agency said in its annual report last week that it now manages 6.2 million cases in the country, nearly double the number in 2020, when it managed 3.3 million cases. It has become.
Despite his personal admission, Mayorkas touted the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to expel illegal immigrants from the country at an Eagle Pass news conference later that day.
“In fact, the vast majority of migrants we've encountered on the Southwest border throughout this administration have been removed, returned or expelled,” Mayorkas said.
“We are doing everything we can to reduce irregular immigration in a broken system, encouraging noncitizens to use legal channels, imposing consequences for those who don’t. ”
Recent Customs and Border Protection figures It found that in the first two months of the fiscal year, more than 70% of migrants encountered at the southern border were paroled and allowed to enter the country.
Nearly 237,000 people were encountered in October, of which 71%, or nearly 170,000, were allowed to enter the country.
A similar number (approximately 238,000) occurred in November, with approximately 177,000 (74%) granted access to the United States.
December numbers have not yet been released, but Mayorkas' comments suggest they will be higher than the past two months.
Last week, the DHS secretary revealed in the same Fox interview that “well over 1 million” immigrants are admitted to the United States on an annual basis.
He argued that the Biden administration is not to blame for the immigration crisis and that it can only be resolved if Congress passes sweeping immigration reform.
“The magnet is the fact that it can take six years or more between encountering an individual at the border and final adjudication of an immigration case,” he said.
Republican lawmakers disagree, placing the blame squarely on the Biden administration for the record number of immigrants admitted and admitted over the past three years.
Last May, the administration tightened its grip, saying only people who made an appointment on an app and waited their turn would have the chance to present their asylum claims to police officers and be allowed to enter the United States. These people (45,000 per month) are allowed entry through the Field Bureau.
But their numbers far outnumber those who cross the border illegally and hand them over to the border. Under current government instructions, officers will detain, interview and evaluate each person individually. They will then be issued a court date and legally allowed to enter the country, where they can apply for a work permit and asylum, or be denied and return home. According to statistics from the Department of Homeland Security, the former is true in most cases.
Mayorax's first impeachment hearing, convened by the Republican-led House Homeland Security Committee for his “failure of leadership and refusal to enforce immigration laws,” is scheduled for Wednesday.
