CBP Releasing Asylum Seekers Without Scheduled Court Dates

At the order of President Biden, not only has Customs and Border Protection (CBP) been releasing illegal migrants into the United States due to the catch and release policy, but now, Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley Sector (RGV) is releasing asylum seekers without court dates.

The ending of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) once again opened the door to fraudulent claims and abuse of the asylum system. Now, this new move is certain to make the situation significantly worse.

Usually, illegal aliens who claim asylum are issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) before being released from custody. However, border agents have been directed to use prosecutorial discretion to forgo the process of issuing an NTA due to the massive surge of migrants at our border. Instead, biometrical data is collected and then the migrants are released into the interior of the United States.

The controversial move by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and CBP places the responsibility of seeking out a court hearing on the migrant, who must then contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or obtain legal assistance to schedule a court date. It should be clear that this is a horrible idea. What illegal migrant who has just been released into the United States without a rock-solid case to remain here would willingly seek out proceedings which could get them expelled from the country?

According to a testimony by an ICE official before Congress in 2019, approximately 87 percent of illegal aliens recently released by the DHS did not show up for their scheduled asylum hearing. In FY2020, that number lowered to 49 percent due to MPP.

However, under President Biden, especially now that the responsibility is on the migrant, we are bound to see thousands of migrants falsely claiming asylum so they can gain easy entry into the United States.

A source with CBP told Fox News that the crisis on the border has “become so dire that BP [Border Patrol] 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.”

While the Biden administration refuses to call the crisis for what it is, the move to release migrants without an NTA is yet another sign of how overwhelming the situation at our border is becoming. CBP apprehended 100,441 illegal border crossers in February alone, including 9,457 unaccompanied children (UAC). The situation at our southern border is bound to get significantly worse unless President Biden changes course and reinstitutes Trump-era policies which deterred illegal immigration and prioritized the American people.