If Joe Biden continues his stubborn refusal to delay or scrap lifting pandemic restrictions at the border, there is a strong likelihood that the resulting surge in illegals trying to gain entry to the United States will overwhelm the limited resources of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
ICE admitted that the numbers of illegals who will show up at the border that have been publicly acknowledged by the Biden administration are massively undercounted.
The information was revealed as a result of a case on family detention, where ICE’s Juvenile Coordinator painted a grim picture of what the months ahead look like for the agency.
“ICE is preparing to utilize its limited resources to respond to an historic border surge, with projections forecasted to triple current arrivals,” the April 8 filing in the Flores v Garland case says.
The agency said that it is currently seeing border enrollments (which are separate from migrant encounters by Customs and Border Protection) ranging from between 1,000-2,000 arrivals a day. As a result, it says it will need resources for up to 3,000 people a day being released into the U.S. under the non-detained docket and via monitoring under the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program.
“Given these forecasts and the recently announced decision to end Title 42 next month, ICE must shift its focus and prepare to manage its resources for a population of up to 600,000 by the end of the fiscal year,” the official said. The Washington Times first reported on the filing.
ATD requires illegal aliens to self-report by calling a telephone number or getting the SmartLink app for their mobile phones. In some cases, the person must wear a global positioning system (GPS) tracking device. Very few illegals will have to report in person to an ICE office.
The biggest problem with this program is manpower. ICE currently has one officer for every 125 illegals being “tracked.” Soon that number will be one agent for every 400 participants in the ATD program.
The 600,000 illegals by the end of the year in the ATD program is a small percentage of the number of illegals who will be part of the surge that will hit the borders next month.
ICE, meanwhile, said that toward the end of 2021, “ICE chose to shift its usage of the family facilities to focus on single adults, consistent with the administration’s goal of addressing irregular migration while supporting a system of border management that is orderly, safe and humane.”
Thomas Homan, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director, said the Trump administration was detaining many more illegal immigrants than the Biden administration is, with more than 55,000 detained compared to just over 20,000 under Biden.
“There’s plenty of space, they shouldn’t be releasing them unless they’re out of resources, and they’re not there yet,” he said.
Homan also points out that once an illegal alien is released, it’s nearly impossible for them to be deported. “When you’re detained you have a hearing in front of a judge in 28-32 days, when you’re not detained it can be years,” he told Fox News.
So much for “fair, orderly, and humane” immigration under Joe Biden.
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