The Department of Homeland Security has admitted that “more than 85%” of immigrants detained at the southern border are released into the United States, according to a report from Fox News.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas made the admission during a private meeting with border agents at the Eagle Pass crossing in Texas on Monday, according to three people who were in the room.
The Del Rio sector where Eagle Pass saw more than 81,000 migrants hand themselves in to find a new life in the US in October and November.
The siege at the border has only increased since then, with a monthly record 302,000 migrants found, according to ABC sources, most of whom are being waved into the country.
Those arriving are no longer just those fleeing poverty, political instability and gang violence in Central America, but immigrants from China, Turkey, Afghanistan and across Africa are arriving to claim their place on US soil.
Mayorkas – who faces an impeachment trial from House Republicans over his handling of the migrant crisis – was pressed during a meeting by agents about an interview he gave to Fox last week in which he said “it wouldn’t surprise me at all” if the exit numbers were greater than 70% .
A group of hundreds of migrants marched through Mexico to the southern border of the United States on Monday. AP
Agents do not believe clearance rates are low, according to sources, and Mayorkas eventually admitted they are now above 85%.
Once immigrants are admitted to the US to pursue their asylum claim, they must regularly check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The agency said in its annual report last week that it now cares for 6.2 million people in the country, a figure that has almost doubled since 2020 when it cared for 3.3 million active cases.
Despite his personal confession, at an Eagle Pass press conference later in the day Mayorkas touted DHS’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants from the country.
“In fact, the majority of all Southwest Border immigrant encounters throughout this Administration have been removed, returned or deported – the majority of them,” Mayorkas said.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted that more than 85% of immigrants have been allowed into the United States. AP
“We are doing everything we can, in a broken system, to incentivize non-citizens to use legal routes, to impose consequences on those who don’t, and to reduce irregular migration.”
The latest Customs and Border Protection figures from the first two months of the fiscal year show that more than 70% of immigrants found at the southern border have been released and allowed into the country.
In October, nearly 237,000 were found, of which nearly 170,000 – 71% – were allowed into the country.
November saw a similar number — about 238,000 found — with about 177,000 or 74% granted access to the US.
December numbers have not yet been released, but Mayorkas’ statement suggests they will be higher than the previous two months.
Last week, the DHS secretary revealed during the same Fox interview that “more than a million” immigrants are allowed into the US each year.
Migrants crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico towards the US border at Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sunday. Getty Images At least a million immigrants are allowed into the United States every day, according to Mayorkas, as border agents struggle to keep up with the influx. Getty Images
He argued that the blame for the immigrant crisis does not lie with the Biden administration, but can only be fixed if Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform.
“What is magnetic is the fact that the time between meeting an individual at the border and their final decision in their immigration case can sometimes take six years or more,” he said.
Republican members of Congress disagree, and have placed the blame for the record number of immigrants who have arrived and been allowed into the country over the past three years squarely on the Biden administration.
Last May the administration said it would become more difficult and only allow those who make an appointment through the app and wait their turn to have the chance to appeal their asylum case to officials and be allowed into the US. Those — 45,000 a month — are allowed into the country through the Office of Field Operations.
However, they are far more numerous than those who cross the border illegally and surrender themselves to the border. Under the direction of the current administration, officers detain, 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 be turned away and deported. Statistics from the Department of Homeland Security show that in most cases, the former is the case.
Mayoraks’ first impeachment hearing – which the GOP-led House Homeland Security Committee called out for his “failed leadership and refusal to enforce” immigration laws – is scheduled for Wednesday.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
