Around 50,000 migrants who were captured crossing the United States-Mexico border illegally have been released into the United States without court dates, only instructions to eventually report back to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, according to a report from Axios.
Only 13% of those, the outlet notes, have actually followed up with an ICE agent.
The shocking news comes as reports indicate that July may be yet another record-breaking month for illegal immigration along the southern border, similar to June, which saw the largest number of illegal immigrant apprehensions at the United States southern border in years, according to The New York Times. Some areas of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas — one of the most highly trafficked areas of the border — are seeing upwards of 20,000 apprehensions per week, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Total apprehensions at the border for 2021 so far are expected to top one million in July, putting border patrol on track to intercept two million illegal immigrants in 2021.
The situation is so overwhelming, apparently, the Biden administration is simply allowing in some migrants who identify as asylum seekers and, instead of giving them a court date for an asylum hearing, is just allowing them to enter the United States with a promise that they will eventually check in with ICE.
“About 50,000 migrants who crossed the southern border illegally have now been released in the United States without a court date,” Axios said. “Although they are told to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office instead, just 13% have shown up so far.”
Even Axios appears shocked by the news.
“It’s unprecedented for agents to release migrants without an official notice to appear in court. Where it has occurred recently, migrants have instead been given a list of addresses and contacts for ICE offices across the country and told to report to one of them,” the outlet noted. ‘The hope has been for migrants to show up at these offices after reaching their final destination, to get work permits.”
Of those 50,000, “[j]ust 6,700 migrants who crossed between mid-March and mid-July showed up at ICE offices as of Monday, one source briefed on Department of Homeland Security data told Axios.”
“Another roughly 27,000 migrants who crossed and were released during the same time frame have yet to turn up but remain within the 60-day window for reporting. One DHS official emphasized that nearly 70% of migrants are within the 60-day window or have reported to ICE,” Axios said.
The Department of Homeland Security told that “[w]hile individuals have 60 days to check in with ICE, many are proactively reaching out to ICE to begin their official immigration processing, including by receiving a Notice to Appear. Those who do not report, like anyone who is in our country without legal status, are subject to removal by ICE.”
Those removals, though, are unlikely to happen. According to The Washington Post, the Biden administration has scaled back ICE deportations dramatically, reining in “street-level enforcement” with an eye to “refocusing” the ICE “agency mission.” Once many of these individuals are inside the United States, it appears unlikely that they will be removed.