After more than 11,000 migrants were caught crossing the southern border on Tuesday, the Biden administration is now preparing a memo that will direct Customs and Border Protection to begin releasing migrants into the United States without cut-off dates. nor the ability to track them, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
The Biden administration began releasing migrants without cutoff dates to ease overcrowding in March 2021, but had previously enrolled those migrants in a program known as Alternatives to Detention, which required them to register on a mobile app until that they were finally given a court date. The new policy would free them on “parole” with a notice to appear at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office but without enrolling them in the program.
The more than 11,000 border apprehensions in a single day is a record and exceeds expectations of 10,000 a day forecast by Department of Homeland Security officials for what could happen when Covid restrictions are lifted Thursday night.
«We’re already breaking down and we haven’t made it to the starting line,» a DHS official told NBC News, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person is not authorized to speak to the media.
A DHS spokesperson said the new policy will apply only to immigrants who have been carefully vetted.
«Just as the Republican and Democratic administrations have done in the past to protect the safety of Border Patrol agents and migrants in the event of severe crowded conditions, sectors of the US Border Patrol may consider the use of probation for certain migrants who have undergone strict security and public safety investigation,» the spokesperson said.
«Each parole will be considered individually on a case-by-case basis, and individuals who are released will be required to register with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and submit to removal proceedings in immigration court. The specific use of parole will allow the Border Patrol to focus its resources in the most effective way to quickly process and remove people who have no legal basis to remain in the country.”
The restrictions, known as Title 42, have pushed back against immigrants who chose to seek asylum more than 2.5 million times since the policy was enacted in March 2020. The Biden administration is set to lift Title 42 at 11: 59 p. to enter the country and be evaluated for a possible asylum application. The policy change is expected to attract more immigrants and reduce processing times for immigrants in Border Patrol custody.
Customs and Border Protection processing centers are already holding more than 27,000 migrants, according to the two sources familiar with the numbers, far more than the roughly 18,500 the facility is equipped to hold.
The decision to begin quickly releasing migrants at centers that are over capacity is designed to alleviate overcrowding in them sooner than what is expected to be a major increase when Title 42 is lifted.
“It is a danger to public health. We will start to have people die,” the DHS official said of the overcrowding issue.
Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment.