The Department of Homeland Security admitted that “more than 85%” of migrants detained at the southern border are being released into the United States, according to a Fox News report.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted this during a private meeting with border agents at the overrun Eagle Pass crossing in Texas on Monday, according to three people who were in the room.
In the Del Río sector, where Eagle Pass is located, more than 81,000 immigrants surrendered in search of a new life in the United States in October and November.
The border siege has only increased since then, with a monthly record of 302,000 immigrants encountered, according to ABC sources, the majority of whom are being received into the country.
Those arriving are no longer just those fleeing poverty, political instability and gang violence in Central America, but also immigrants from China, Turkey, Afghanistan and all of Africa arriving to claim their place on American soil.
Mayorkas, who faces an impeachment hearing by House Republicans over his handling of the immigration crisis, was pressed during the meeting by agents about an interview he gave to Fox last week on the He said he “wouldn’t be surprised at all” if the release figures were higher than 70%.
A group of hundreds of migrants marching through Mexico toward the southern border of the United States on Monday. AP
Agents did not believe the release rate was that low, according to sources, and Mayorkas eventually admitted that it was currently over 85%.
Once immigrants are admitted to the United States to file their asylum claims, they must periodically communicate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
That agency said in its annual report last week that they currently serve 6.2 million people in the country, a figure that has almost doubled since 2020, when they served 3.3 million active cases.
Despite his private admission, at a press conference in Eagle Pass that same day, Mayorkas touted DHS’s efforts to remove illegal immigrants from the country.
“In fact, the majority of all migrant encounters at the southwest border throughout this Administration have been removed, returned or expelled; most of them,” Mayorkas said.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted that more than 85% of immigrants are allowed to enter the United States. AP
“We are doing everything we can, within a broken system, to encourage non-citizens to use legal avenues, impose consequences on those who do not, and reduce irregular migration.”
Recent Customs and Border Protection figures from the first two months of the fiscal year showed that more than 70% of migrants encountered at the southern border were paroled and allowed to enter the country.
In October, almost 237,000 were found, of which almost 170,000 (71%) were allowed to enter the country.
Similar numbers were recorded in November (around 238,000 found), and around 177,000 or 74% gained access to the United States.
December figures have not yet been made public, but Mayorkas’ statements suggest they will be higher than those of the previous two months.
Last week, the DHS secretary revealed during the same Fox interview that “more than a million” immigrants were allowed to enter the United States annually.
Migrants cross the Rio Grande from Mexico toward the U.S. border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sunday. Getty Images At least a million migrants enter the United States daily, according to Mayorkas, as border agents struggle to keep up with the flow of arrivals. fake images
He argued that the fault for the immigration crisis does not lie with the Biden administration, but that it can only be solved if Congress approves radical immigration reform.
“What is a magnet is the fact that the time between encountering an individual at the border and their final decision in their immigration case can sometimes take six or more years,” he said.
Republican members of Congress disagree and have squarely blamed the Biden administration for the record number of immigrants who have arrived and been let into the country over the past three years.
Last May, the administration said it would get tough and only allow those who made appointments through an app and waited their turn to have a chance to plead their asylum cases to officials and be allowed into the United States. Those people (45,000 per month) are allowed to enter the country through the Office of Field Operations.
However, they are vastly outnumbered by those who cross the border illegally and turn themselves in at the border. Per current administration instructions, officers stop, interview and evaluate each of them. They are then issued a court date and allowed to enter the country legally, where they can apply for a work permit and asylum, or are turned away and sent home. Statistics from the Department of Homeland Security show that in the vast majority of cases the former occurs.
The first impeachment hearing against Mayoraks, called by the GOP-led House Homeland Security Committee for his “failed leadership and refusal to enforce” immigration law, is scheduled for Wednesday.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn