GOP Senator Pressing Biden Admin To Disclose Number of Illegal Immigrants Released into US
More than half million migrants released into US as border crisis reaches breaking point
A Republican senator is demanding the Biden administration hand Congress all documents and internal communications related to its decision to release more than half a million illegal immigrants into the United States.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.), a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, instructed the Department of Homeland Security late last week to provide him and other lawmakers with internal administration communications detailing the exact number of illegal immigrants who have been shipped across the United States after being apprehended at the border this fiscal year. Johnson also wants to know the exact number of illegals who have been let into the United States with a notice to appear before an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, according to a copy of a letter sent to Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
"ICE might not be properly assessing these illegal aliens before releasing them into the interior of the U.S.," Johnson wrote, raising concerns shared by many in the GOP. "If true, ICE’s reported actions could threaten the safety and security of all Americans."
Johnson’s investigation into the escalating border crisis comes as the Biden administration grapples with a massive influx of illegal immigrants along the southern border with Mexico. Nearly two million illegal immigrants have entered the United States in fiscal year 2021 alone, and the Biden administration has been releasing immigrants into cities across the country. The issue has generated widespread outrage in Congress and could come to a head in the coming weeks as a group of thousands of migrants travel through Central America on their way to the southern border, where they will strain an already overwhelmed Customs and Border Protection agency.
In addition to the more than half a million illegal immigrants who have been released into the United States, DHS is aware of more than 344,000 "known got-aways," or individuals who evaded apprehension and are likely in the United States illegally with little way for the government to track them, according to Johnson.
"These numbers, which may be even higher, underscore this administration’s failure to enact policies to secure the border and has created an unprecedented migration crisis," the senator wrote.
The Biden administration "is not just releasing illegal aliens into border towns after CBP processing, but rather transporting illegal aliens from the border to cities within the interior of the United States," Johnson wrote.
DHS informed Johnson’s office earlier this month that CBP has processed 273,000 aliens and then released them into the United States with a notice to later appear at an immigration office for possible removal from America. ICE processed another 124,000 immigrants and gave them similar notices, according to DHS figures provided to the senator. Another 31,000 immigrants were processed under "other outcomes" and transferred to departments other than ICE such as the U.S. Marshals Service and state and local law enforcement. At least 102,000 unaccompanied alien children were also processed.
Johnson asked DHS, which still has not provided exact figures related to the border crisis, including the total number of illegal immigrants who have entered America in 2021, to provide his office by Nov. 2—and every month after—information on how many illegal immigrants have been released into the United States.
Johnson also wants exact figures related to the number of illegal immigrants who were released with a notice to appear, a notice to report, or via parole. Most aliens are required to report to CBP or ICE after their release, though, historically, a large number never do so and ultimately disappear into America. Because of this, Johnson is also asking DHS to provide figures on how many illegal immigrants fail to report back to the government after their release.
Published under: Border, ICE, Illegal Immigration, Immigration
Dem Budget Bill Would Slash Border Protection Budget by Half Billion Dollars
Cuts proposed as southern border faces a decades-high surge of illegal immigrants
Senate Democrats are moving to slash the budget for Customs and Border Protection by half a billion dollars in the midst of an immigration crisis, putting more strain on an agency with nearly exhausted resources.
The appropriations bill, released Monday by Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.), allocates just $14.5 billion to CBP for the 2022 fiscal year, down from $15 billion the year before and $80 million less than what President Joe Biden requested in his budget. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would receive $7.9 billion, a cut of $40 million from the previous year and $58 million less than what Biden asked for.
Democrats also proposed reduced funding for family detention centers, while pumping more money toward constructing new migrant processing centers along the U.S.-Mexico border. The measure indicates that Democrats don't see the surge ending anytime soon. The new processing centers, they say, will reduce migrant time in custody. The bill forbids Homeland Security Investigations, an arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from enforcing immigration laws. It instead directs the agency to only focus on "the disruption of transnational crime," such as drug trafficking or money laundering.
The proposed cuts come as the southern border faces a decades-high surge of illegal immigrants attempting to enter the United States. Immigration authorities expect to report nearly two million migrant encounters at the border this fiscal year, the first time the number has exceeded one million since 2006.
"It's time for the Department of Homeland Security to make investments in what protects us, not what divides us," Murphy said in a statement. "The ineffective and inhumane border policies and political vanity projects of the Trump Administration didn't make our nation safer, and it's time to turn the page to fund policies that meet the actual threats presented to this nation."
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Senate Democrats in a summary of the bill said cuts to detention centers were warranted by "lower overall detention numbers due to the pandemic and related-litigation." Between January and August, however, the number of illegal aliens detained by ICE increased by 70 percent, according to data provided by the agency.
The Senate Democrats' proposal represents another blow to an agency already frustrated by the White House's apparent lack of interest in funding border security and migrant processing measures. A senior DHS official who spoke with the Washington Free Beacon sounded the alarm on the president’s initial budget request to Congress, citing inflation and lack of manpower at CBP as challenges that need to be addressed.
"We were already going to have less money next year under Biden’s plan," the official said. "This is not a party serious about enforcing immigration law."
As Border Crisis Mounts, First Lady Boosts Group That Helps Illegals Avoid Arrest
Kansas City's El Centro led by Dem donor, tied to groups pushing CRT
As the crisis at the southern border becomes a political liability for her husband, first lady Jill Biden (Ed.D.) promoted a private school run by a Democratic donor that advises illegal immigrants on how to avoid arrest.
Biden visited El Centro Academy in Kansas City, Kan., on Tuesday at the request of Rep. Sharice Davids (D., Kan.), according to El Centro president and CEO Irene Caudillo, who has made political contributions to both Davids and the Biden campaign. El Centro's nonprofit arm dabbles in more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. It has published a series of videos that instruct illegal immigrants on how to avoid arrest from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One video, for example, advises viewers to ignore ICE agents altogether during an interaction and contact "a member of the community who does have status." Caudillo also worked with the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce to create "safe spaces" for immigrants by prohibiting local cooperation with ICE to "protect residents from deportation."
Biden's visit comes as her husband's administration scrambles to deal with an unprecedented border crisis. The number of illegal crossings at the southern border is at a multi-decade high, with law enforcement expected to report nearly two million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2021. The Biden administration in September announced new rules that limit ICE's ability to arrest and deport illegal immigrants.
First lady Biden, who was joined by Small Business Administration head Isabel Guzman, publicly embraced El Centro as the perfect site for a "charla"—Spanish for "chat"—with Hispanic community members. She thanked the academy "for all you do" in a Tuesday tweet. The White House did not return a request for comment. Caudillo told the Washington Free Beacon she did not discuss immigration with Biden and "shared our El Centro story privately with her."
In addition to Caudillo's illegal immigration advocacy, El Centro has received substantial funding from UnidosUS, a liberal immigration group that has defended teaching critical race theory in K-12 schools, calling the controversial curriculum "a truthful retelling of our nation's history." Caudillo also serves on the board of Revolucion Educativa, an affiliate of the Kansas City, Mo.-based Latinx Education Collaborative that has promoted critical race theory as an "important" framework to include in middle and high schools.
The affiliation could present a political liability for Davids. While the Kansas State Board of Education has contended that critical race theory "is not part of Kansas academic standards," one district in the state scrapped a planned diversity training after local parents argued it included critical race theory teachings.
Davids herself faced criticism in August after she endorsed a list of books from a self-described "radical" book publisher. Several of the titles are considered critical race theory resources, including Black Lives Matter at School, The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom, How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America, and From #Black Lives Matter to Black Liberation.
Davids did not return a request for comment.
Biden has looked to distance herself from the ongoing border crisis in the past after reports emerged in HuffPost and other media outlets that the first lady planned to take a leading role in a "task force to reunite separated immigrant families." In March, the first lady's office insisted she had "no formal role" in the administration's efforts. Biden will, however, have a formal role in the White House's political operations—the first lady is set to stump for Terry McAuliffe in Virginia on Friday as Democrats look to avoid a high-profile gubernatorial loss in a state they won by double digits in 2020.
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