At least 160,000 illegal immigrants have been released by the Biden administration since March – along with a broad use of limited parole authorities to allow 30,000 to be eligible for work permits since August, Border Patrol documents show.
The documents give a glimpse into how the Biden administration has been releasing massive numbers of migrants into the U.S., often with little to no oversight, supervision, or imminent threat of deportation.
Since March 20, no less than 94,570 illegal immigrants have been released into the U.S. with Notices to Report. Individuals who receive a Notice to Report are instructed to check in with an ICE office when they arrive at their final destination – which could be anywhere in the country. Individuals who check-in are not deported or detained as their immigration proceedings move forward.
Since Aug 6th, the administration has released an estimated 32,000 immigrants into the U.S. by parole – which grants migrants a degree of legal status and the ability to apply for work permits.
Federal law says parole authority is meant to be used on a case-by-case basis for "urgent humanitarian purposes" and "significant public benefit." Generally, only a few parole cases are granted by officials, however, the Biden administration has been using it liberally, for example, its parole of tens of thousands of Afghans into the United States as part of Operation Allies Welcome.
Former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott, who served under President Biden, examined the documents and said that he believes the administration is abusing its parole authority, according to Fox News.
"By law and regulation, a parole shall only be granted on a case by case basis and only for significant humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Neither of these appear to apply to the current situation," he said, adding that the number of paroles brings into question the review and approval process.
"As a field chief, I don’t believe I ever approved more than 5 or 10 paroles in a year," he said. "When I did, I ensured that the alien was monitored continuously and was detained or removed as soon as the circumstances allowed."
The documents reveal that since Aug 6, the administration released an additional 40,000 illegal immigrants on their own recognizance. The documents also show that on one single day in the Del Rio sector, 128 single adult illegal immigrants were released into the U.S. without ATD – which usually entails tracking by an ankle monitor or phone.
A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official said that mechanisms like paroling, the use of NTRs, and enrolling migrants in Alternatives to Detention (ATD) "provides mechanisms to require family units released from CBP custody to report to ICE within a specified time."
The official also cited data that shows that between 2014 and 2020, 81% of migrants released into the U.S. did report for their immigration proceedings.
The agency has not yet released the number of migrant encounters in September, however, in both July and August there were more than 200,000 migrant encounters, some of the highest numbers in twenty years. Since then, migrants have continued to come in droves. According to the documents, Rio Grande Valley encountered 5,900 migrants in one week, while Del Rio encountered more than 2,900 in that same week.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who maintained that the border is not open, allegedly warned officials of up to 400,000 encounters if Title 42 public health protections were ended.
Republicans have blamed the Biden administration’s rapid reversal of Trump-era border protections for the ongoing crisis at the border. The administration however has focused on blaming "root causes" like poverty, corruption, and violence in Central America.
"The downturn in economies, the attendant rise in violence, the downturn in economies made more acute by reason of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the suppression of any humanitarian relief over the past number of years, and the pent-up thirst for relief among many different populations," Mayorkas told Yahoo News this week. "I think an accumulation of factors contributes to the rise in migration that we've seen."
