Axios is reporting that the Biden administration has released 50,000 illegal migrants into the United States without bothering to issue court dates for them. They are told to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office yet only 13% do. The policy of catch and release is back, baby.

The number of apprehensions (the term used by Border Patrol agents) at the southern border continues at staggering levels. The sectors in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), for example, are completely overwhelmed. Single stretches in the RGV can produce 20,000 apprehensions in a single week. Is anyone surprised that people are willing to illegally cross the border and take advantage of the chaos by simply ignoring the process? I’m surprised that 13% are reported to be showing up for an appointment with ICE. Those released are given a list of ICE office addresses and contacts. They are told to go to one of them.

It’s unprecedented for agents to release migrants without an official notice to appear in court. Where it has occurred recently, migrants have instead been given a list of addresses and contacts for ICE offices across the country and told to report to one of them.

The hope has been for migrants to show up at these offices after reaching their final destination, to get work permits.

Hope is not a policy. If ICE is told to turn a blind eye to migrants not reporting to an ICE office after being released, we can expect more to do so. We keep being told that the results of Biden’s bone-headed decisions concerning the border are “unprecedented”, which is a polite way of describing the sheer incompetence on display from this administration. Republicans are rightly speaking up. Stephen Miller, a border hawk who served as Trump’s chief adviser on immigration policy, says this report is just “the tip of the iceberg” of what data is needed. Where’s all the transparency we’ve been promised from Biden?

“But again, that’s all it is, a snapshot. We need all of the data pertaining to this administration’s catch and release policy,” Miller continued. “Every piece of it, so that we can have total accountability and we can have a complete public awareness.”

Miller said that we “shouldn’t have to scrap and claw in order to get these little snippets leaking out in stories” and quipped it was if as “though it was beneath the dignity of the Biden administration to provide this information to the public.”

“They have an affirmative obligation and duty to inform and advise the American public what they are doing in the public’s name and with public taxpayer dollars and with public resources,” Miller continued. “We all welcome every time there is a leak that can begin to shed some additional light on this open borders scheme.”

“The government itself needs to release official data pertaining to the extent, the scope, and the pervasiveness of catch and release across the entire southwestern border of the United States,” he added.

Is anyone surprised? https://t.co/452wPVgNFS

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) July 27, 2021

Cotton says that catch and release is Biden’s official policy. He accuses the Biden administration of “trying to sneak through massive amnesty.” We’ve been told by Biden over and over again that he intends to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, it’s no secret. Amnesty is included in the infrastructure bill passed by the House and now in the Senate. Amnesty is infrastructure, you know.

Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan points out that the Biden border crisis doesn’t just affect the southern border states anymore. The Biden administration is distributing illegal migrants across the country, often without notifying local officials and law enforcement before doing so.

The #BidenBorderCrisis is no longer a border state problem.

Illegal aliens flooding our border are coming to a town near you. https://t.co/CsS2hryN7P

— Representative Lisa McClain (@RepLisaMcClain) July 27, 2021

Axios reports some sobering numbers on just how bad the open border policies are for ICE.

Just 6,700 migrants who crossed between mid-March and mid-July showed up at ICE offices as of Monday, one source briefed on Department of Homeland Security data told Axios.

16,000 have not showed up and passed the 60-day reporting window they were given. That’s 2.4 no-shows for every one that has checked in.
Another roughly 27,000 migrants who crossed and were released during the same time frame have yet to turn up, but remain within the 60-day window for reporting. One DHS official emphasized that nearly 70% of migrants are within the 60-day window or have reported to ICE.

A DHS spokesperson pushed back on criticism. Migrants who don’t follow up and report to ICE are subject to removal. Wink, wink.

“While individuals have 60 days to check in with ICE, many are proactively reaching out to ICE to begin their official immigration processing, including by receiving a Notice to Appear,” DHS spokesperson Meira Bernstein told Axios. “Those who do not report, like anyone who is in our country without legal status, are subject to removal by ICE.”

Meanwhile, DHS Secretary Mayorkas is self-quarantining after being exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

Mayorkas has canceled all upcoming events and is working virtually for the time being. He’s also postponed a “State of Homeland Security Speech” that was scheduled for this upcoming Thursday.

“Secretary Mayorkas has a virtual schedule this week after coming into close contact with a DHS official who later tested positive for COVID-19,” DHS spokesperson Marsha Espinosa said in a statement. “The Secretary is fully vaccinated, has no symptoms, and has tested negative twice. Official DHS contact tracing is underway. These recommendations have been informed by the Office of the DHS Chief Medical Officer and are taken in an overabundance of caution.”

Maybe Mayorkas should concentrate less on “events” and more on issuing more support at the southern border. Better yet, admit that the Biden policies of doing the opposite of what the Trump administration successfully did to secure the border are the wrong way to go, and have failed miserably.