Until a better solution is found, it seems, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and United States Customs and Border Protection are pursuing a system of “catch and release,” allowing illegal alien families to go free pending adjuidcation hearings in certain border states, including Arizona.
So far, authorities in Pima County, Arizona, say that ICE and CBP have released around 7,000 illegal immigrants in Tuscon, Arizona, alone, over the past several months, according to the Arizona Republic, and it is straining public resources.
“The number of migrant families released in Tucson has surpassed the ability of local nonprofits to house them,” the paper reported over the weekend. “This past week, the city of Tucson and Pima County opened temporary overflow shelters to house migrants, although those shelters are once again empty, at least for now.”
The “catch-and-release” policy, most notably employed by the Obama administration, was one of the key elements in convincing Republicans to take a stronger stand on ending illegal immigration. Because of the early-2000s Flores decision, full illegal alien families seeking asylum cannot be held in border patrol custody more than three weeks — less than a third of the time needed to process their asylum claim.
The decision leaves authorities with little choice but to release asylum seeking families into the United States with a summons requiring them to return to their point of entry for an adjudication hearing. Most migrants families, of course, fail to show up, giving them, essentially, a free pass to remain in the United States until caught (and most don’t get caught).
The Trump administration signed a memo in 2018 ordering an end to “catch and release,” and demanding that the Department of Homeland Security find a solution to the ongoing detention problems at the border. Initially, the Trump administration tried separating families so as not to implicate the requirements of Flores, but the family separation policy triggered an enormous public backlash.
Now, though, CBP and ICE are overwhelmed by the number of migrants seeking asylum at the United States-Mexico border, most of whom are illegal immigrant families who have traveled in large “migrant caravans” from Central American countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Nearly 100,000 migrants arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in April, thousands upon thousands more than arrived in the same period in 2018.
That’s overwhelmed even expanded border patrol facilities, and forced CBP and ICE to become caretakers, housing officials, and even a medical care team.
Officials in border states like Texas and Arizona say they understand the problem and are working with CBP and ICE to create temporary solutions that allow cities like Tuscon to help house migrants in a static location until they can be processed. In Tuscon, authorities are looking to CBP to give them a heads up when buses of migrants are headed into the city, and for CBP to drop the migrants off directly at the non-profits housing them rather than at city bus stations and public transportation hubs.
“If the loaded buses from Border Patrol can go not to the bus station, but to the site of where the (nonprofit) is located, that would be a big help because that saves us a lot as a community,” Tuscon’s mayor told the AZ Republic.
Congress could help but, unfortunately, has all but dropped the subject of illegal immigration now that hearings on the budget have ceased until September. The White House is still asking for additional funds, not just to build a border wall, which could help cut down on illegal crossings, but also to expand CBP and ICE operations.