Biden's catch-and-release is a 'magnet' for illegal immigration: Retired Border Patrol agent
Rosendo Hinojosa, a retired Border Patrol agent, says it's 'hard to believe' Biden officials don't know how many migrants have been released into the country because every migrant apprehension and release is documented.
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday said that more than 1,400 migrants have so far been removed to Haiti, as the Biden administration works to get a grip on the massive migrant surge that hit the Del Rio bridge last week.
A DHS official said in a statement that since Sept. 19, 12 removal flights have left the U.S., with 1,401 returned to Haiti.
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Meanwhile, 3,206 Haitians have been moved from the camp in Del Rio, where there more than 14,000 camped under the international bridge last week, and moved into Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody or to other parts of the border to be either removed or placed into removal proceedings.
The official said that there are fewer than 5,000 migrants in the Del Rio sector.
The numbers come as the Biden administration has faced pressure about how many migrants it has deported, or released into the United States related to the massive migration wave it is facing.
On Wednesday, DHS confirmed that some migrants are being released into the interior, if they are not being removed under Title 42 public health protections. The Biden administration has been removing most single adults under the Center for Disease Control (CDC) order, but only a sliver of migrant families -- about 19% in August.
A DHS spokesperson told Fox that those who were not being removed are either placed in "alternatives to detention," detained at an ICE facility, or released into the U.S. with either a notice to appear in court or a notice to report to an ICE office.
"The document an individual receives is dependent on facility space and resources available to process," the spokesperson said.
The DHS statement noted that Border Patrol will collect information such as fingerprints, phone numbers and an address, while also running background checks.
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Meanwhile, Border Patrol sources told Fox News that migrants are mostly being released with the notices to report at an ICE office rather than the notices to appear.
The preference for NTRs, which take just 20 minutes, rather than the NTAs, which take more than an hour have been preferred during the migrant crisis along the southern border as it allows migrants to be processed quicker.
While the administration is facing pressure over the release of migrants into the interior, it is also facing similar pressure from immigration activists and others over the deportations too.
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President Biden's Special Envoy for Haiti Ambassador Daniel Foote resigned on Thursday, saying he will not take part in the United States’ "inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees."
Fox News’ Griff Jenkins, Bill Melugin and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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