GOP Lawmakers Demand Answers about Migrants Released Without Court Dates
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A group of 14 House Republicans wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday demanding more information about “troubling reports” that the Biden administration is allowing illegal immigrants into the country without scheduled court dates.
“Despite your repeated claims that ‘the border is secure,’ these reports raise serious questions about DHS’ commitment to faithfully enforcing the law,” the lawmakers, led by Representative Andy Biggs (R., Ariz.) wrote.
Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley sector have been told to use prosecutorial discretion to process and release migrants without issuing a Notice to Appear (NTA), which includes details about the hearing at which a court determines whether to process a migrant’s asylum claim. Skipping the NTA process allows agents to avoid hours of paperwork required to issue the notices. The new direction makes migrants responsible for seeking an asylum hearing through Immigrations and Customs Enforcement or legal assistance.
Many migrants are now being registered into the system with biometric data and then released into the public amid a growing surge at the border that has overwhelmed governmental resources and facilities.
The new guidance does not apply to unaccompanied children, however.
On Tuesday the lawmakers demanded Mayorkas respond to a list of questions by Friday, including how many migrants have been released without being issued an NTA, how many have been released without claiming a fear of persecution if returned home, how many have been found to have such a credible fear, and finally how many migrants have been paroled into the U.S. and if those individuals will be eligible for employment authorization.
According to NBC News, Migrants who were not given an NTA instead received identification documents and were told to show those documents to local sheriffs if necessary. Migrants told the outlet they were not asked for contact information, and it is not clear how U.S. government agencies will reach out to them.
A senior CBP source reportedly told Fox News that officials had considered the move as the situation at the border has “become so dire that BP [Border Protection] has no choice but to release people nearly immediately after apprehension because there is no space to hold people even to do necessary NTA paperwork.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said its agents encountered 100,000 migrants making illegal crossings in February, a 28 percent increase from the month before. The number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border has surged as well.
Mayorkas on Sunday underscored the Biden administration’s messaging to migrants that the southern border is closed, though he noted that it would not expel “vulnerable children.”
“Our message has been straightforward and simple and it’s true: The border is closed,” he said. “We are expelling families, we are expelling single adults and we’ve made a decision that we will not expel young vulnerable children.”
