The New York City office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is reportedly booked through 2032 with appointments to handle migrants who entered the country illegally.
The ICE office is “fully booked through October 2032,” according to an official ICE document obtained by The New York Post.
The Biden administration has released into the country more than 802,300 migrants apprehended at the southern border in the last two years from March 2021 to last month, the February 18 ICE document shows.
The New York City office is the most backlogged by far with more than 39,200 migrant appointments scheduled as of February 13, according to the ICE document.
Jacksonville, Florida, is the second most clogged office with nearly 2,700 migrant appointments scheduled through June 2028. Another Florida office in Miramar has more than 24,700 migrant appointments through January 2028.
The ICE offices in Chicago, Atlanta, San Antonio, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Indianapolis are all booked at least until 2026.
ICE has not yet commented on the document reviewed by the Post.
For most of 2021, the Biden administration tried requiring migrants to report to their local ICE office, quickly overwhelming the New York City office and many others.
For the last year and change though, ICE has been funneling most migrants released at the border through the Alternatives to Detention program, which involves monitoring migrants’ locations through GPS tracking with ankle monitors or an app on their phone.
Migrants who are released at the border or bused to another location are required to visit their local ICE office within 60 days. Only about 44% have done so, and 14% have checked in past the deadline, according to the document. Nearly 290,000 migrants have missed their deadline and have not gone to an ICE office at all.
Last year, several southern Republican governors bused thousands of migrants out of their states to Democrat-run areas including New York City. The move by the governors of Florida, Texas, and Arizona governors to bus migrants out of state was branded “political theater” by critics.
In August, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent dozens of migrants up to the city, saying New York is “the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city.”
“I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief,” Abbott said in a statement at the time.
In September, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent about 50 migrants up to Martha’s Vineyard, vacation haven for New York’s ultra-wealthy, who were promptly loaded on buses less than 48 hours later and removed to Cape Cod military housing.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams griped about the influx of migrants and declared a state of emergency in October to help deal with the situation.
“Thousands of asylum seekers have been bused into New York City and simply dropped off, without notice, coordination, or care — and more are arriving every day,” Adams said at the time, adding that, “New Yorkers deserve to know why this is happening and what we plan to do.”