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(The Center Square) The U.S. House Oversight Committee is demanding that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas provide information about the departments catch-and-release policy through which its released millions of foreign nationals into the country.

The policy has been struck down by a federal judge in a lawsuit brought by Florida, ruling its illegal.

Mayorkas has claimed that through the policy the vast majority of those applying for asylum claiming credible fear passed an initial screening by federal agents. Those who claim credible fear say theyd be in imminent danger if they were forced to return to their home countries.

In aninterviewwith CNN last month, Mayorkas said, The vast majority of those individuals have not sought to evade law enforcement, but have actually surrendered themselves to law enforcement and made a claim for relief under our laws And so they make their claims, and the initial threshold for those claims under the law is lower than the ultimate asylum standard.

However, in aletterto Mayorkas, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, told Mayorkas, DHSs own data contradict your statements. Only a fraction of the illegal aliens DHS personnel apprehend receive a credible fear screening prior to being released into the country.

According to federal data for last December, for example, more than 140,000 of the 172,116 Title 8 apprehensions resulted in individuals being released into the U.S. but only 5,001 were referred for credible fear screenings. A similar pattern is reported in other months.

Because of contradictory data posted on various DHS websites, however, it is impossible to know the extent of DHSs catch and release policies, Comer said. Instead of referring the majority who were released for credible fear screenings, Comer argues, Mayorkas policy in most circumstances is to simply release illegal aliens into the country.

The committee requested DHS provide all documents and communications on how many people were released into the U.S. This includes how many were processed under Title 8 who claimed they planned to apply for asylum and how many were referred to a credible fear screening. Among them, the committee asked for data on how many received a positive credible fear determination and how many were detained during their pending asylum applications, were paroled into the U.S., released with a notice to appear, released on recognizance, or released with instructions to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further processing (notice to report). The committee also asked how many received a negative credible fear determination.

It also asked for documents and communications about how many were processed under Title 8 who didnt claim asylum and how many of them were removed from the U.S., paroled into the U.S., released with a notice to appear, released on recognizance, or released with a notice to report.

The committee also asked for all documents and communications on how many were processed under Title 8 who were referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution for a violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326, which governs illegal entry and reentry into the U.S.

The request was madeaftermore than 1.6 million people were apprehended or reported evading capture by law enforcement after illegally entering the U.S. this fiscal year to date. Despite Mayorkas claiming the border is closed and secure and CBP reports its making progress on less apprehensions being reported, the committee says its investigating the Biden administrations creation of and failure to resolve the worst border crisis in American history.

U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell for the Northern District of Florida Pensacola Divisionruled the Biden administrations catch-and-release policy effectively turned the Southwest Border into a meaningless line in the sand and little more than a speedbump for aliens flooding into the country by prioritizing alternatives to detention over actual detention and by releasing more than a million aliens into the country on parole or pursuant to the exercise of prosecutorial discretion under a wholly inapplicable statute without even initiating removal proceedings.

He also said the administrations collective policies were akin to posting a flashing Come In, Were Open sign on the southern border.

See the article here:
House committee demands answers from Mayorkas on catch-and ... - Heartlander News

A record 35,500 migrants from Nicaragua were encountered at Americas southern border in December. So what did the Department of Homeland Security do? It added Nicaraguans to a lengthening list of foreign nationals who can use a reservation system to enter thiscountry.

DHS calls its system rigorous security vetting, but, in fact, the agency has no way to check for criminal histories in a diplomatically estranged nation that is a pariah of LatinAmerica.

The Migration Policy Institute reports that more than 200,000 Nicaraguans fled their country last year. In response, neighboring Costa Rica, the nearest landing spot, imposed new restrictions on incoming Nicaraguans, citing widespread abuse of the asylum system. Costa Rican officials said many are simply seeking economic opportunities (not legal grounds for asylum) and would not be at risk of harm or persecution in their native land. Rebuffed, tens of thousands have headednorth.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered Nicaraguan migrants nearly 165,000 times in fiscal 2022, a 52-fold increase over 2020. Notably, 57 percent who received a decision on asylum in U.S. immigration courts during 2022 wererejected.

Since the Biden administration is more about accommodating historic waves of migrants than actually securing the border, DHS in January added Nicaraguans along with Cubans, Venezuelans, and Haitians to a plethora of nationalities that have been entering the U.S. at designated ports of entry via their cellphones.

Using the bilingual CBP One app, migrants can schedule appointments with the agency and submit biographical information prior to arrival. According to one report, CBP One expedites the admission process while applying a thin veneer of legality. Migrants no longer have to enter illegally to be granted parole, allowing them to live and work here for years while their asylum applications languish in immigration court. All they have to do is show up at a port ofentry.

How convenient! No need to hang around the old country waiting for U.S. approval to fly to America. And yet how dangerous. CBP One is one more way the Biden administration encourages perilous journeys throughMexico.

The latest statistics seem to bear this out. Some 212,266 border encounters were reported in February, but only 128,877 were recorded by CBP, while the Office of Field Operations, which handles app entries, registered 83,389 encounters at legal ports ofentry.

Though the government did not break down the 83,389 encounters by nationality, FAIR says moving that number off the books is a ploy to mask the scope of illegal migration. One can only assume that the increase in app users is feeding the presidents illegal paroleprogram.

In theory, CBP One is a pre-legalization program that enables U.S. border officials to expeditiously process Nicaraguans and hundreds of thousands of other foreign nationals through biometric data, fingerprints, and personal testimonies of clean living backhome.

In reality, CBP is flying blind. Agents cannot possibly vet criminal histories from hostile or chaotic regimes that have no capacity to run such checks, or no interest in doingso.

For super-majorities of all the foreign nationals who have and will use this new ad hoc parallel immigration system, meeting the programs top requirement of rigorous security vetting will turn out to be all but impossible, writes Todd Bensman, of the Center for Immigration Studies. Security vetting for the entire program stands as an empty promise, an unfulfillable requirement that will bring danger into thenation.

Meantime, Managuas disregard for international law was on display last month when Daniel Ortegas regime brazenly flew 222 of his countrymen, purported political prisoners, into the United States without even bothering to consultWashington.

Nicaragua can save the jet fuel. When it comes to immigration enforcement and security, DHS is literally phoning it in at ourborder.

Read more:
Southern Border Security? DHS Phones It In For Nicaraguan Migrants - Federation for American Immigration Reform

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

ALACHUA, Fla. Nehemias Matias Perez, 23, was arrested late last night and charged with driving under the influence, driving without a valid license, and cocaine possession.

An Alachua Police Department officer responded at about 11:20 p.m. to a call about a car swerving between lanes on U.S. 441 near NW 151st Place. The officer reported that Perezs car was parked halfway in the lane of travel on NW 151st Place and that Perez was in the drivers seat with an odor of alcoholic beverages coming from the car.

The officer reported that Perez raised an alcoholic beverage and smiled in the direction of the officer. Perez got out of his car, then reportedly tried to urinate in front of the patrol car; he was then handcuffed and placed in the back of the patrol car.

A search of the car reportedly produced four empty containers of alcohol. A rolled dollar bill in the front passenger seat reportedly contained 0.1 grams of powdered cocaine. Perez also reportedly had powdered cocaine in one nostril and on his shirt.

Post Miranda, Perez reportedly admitted snorting one line of cocaine and consuming three Micheladas and two Modelos (the big ones). He reportedly performed poorly on field sobriety exercises, and his breath samples measured 0.211 and 0.213 (0.08 is legally intoxicated).

Perez has been charged with driving with an unlawful blood alcohol level and cocaine possession. He was cited for driving without a valid license (the officer reported that he has never had a valid U.S. license).

Perez has a federal conviction from 2016, and in 2020, he was arrested in Arizona for illegally crossing the border. Seven days later, he entered a plea of guilty to the charge and was sentenced to eight days in jail or time served; he was released the next day. Perez reportedly told an officer in his intake interview that he has lived in Alachua County for three years and works for a landscape services company; he provided an address in Alachua. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has indicated that they will pick him up.

Judge Thomas Jaworski set bail at $22,000 and required that Perez be fitted with a Transdermal Alcohol Detector and GPS monitor unless he is picked up by ICE.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Originally posted here:
Man who pled guilty to illegal immigration in Arizona arrested in ... - Alachua Chronicle

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Friday that it has arrested 220 illegal immigrants in a nine-day enforcement operation with criminal convictions that include rape and murder.

ICE said its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had apprehended 220 "removable noncitizens" with convictions including domestic violence, sexual abuse, burglary, gun crimes, drug trafficking and driving under the influence. The arrests took place between March 4 and March 13.

Those arrested included a 64-year-old Mexican national convicted last year of sexual abuse of a victim under 13, a 37-year-old Mexican with a conviction for attempted murder, and a 65-year-old Mexican with convictions for second-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Also arrested was a 49-year-old Mexican with convictions for battery and felony rape of spouse by force/fear.

Other illegal immigrants arrested included a 20-year-old Cuban with a conviction last year for second-degree murder, a 33-year-old Nicaraguan with a conviction of armed burglary, a 50-year-old El Salvadoran convicted of sexual abuse and sexual contact with a child under 11, and a 44-year-old Mexican convicted of sex crimes with a child under 11.

ICE DEPORTATIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMINALS DROPPING SHARPLY UNDER BIDEN

June 2, 2022: ICE agents conduct an enforcement operation in the U.S. interior. ((Immigration and Customs Enforcement))

ICE said the operation shows how the agency is focused "on smart, effective immigration enforcement that protects the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of our communities and integrity of federal immigration law."

"Our teams weigh various factors during targeting and apprehension to ensure we are enforcing U.S. immigration laws humanely, effectively, and with the utmost professionalism," ERO Executive Associate Director Corey Price said in a statement.

ICE DEPORTATIONS REMAINED WELL BELOW TRUMP-ERA LEVELS IN FY 2022, AMID HISTORIC BORDER CRISIS

ICEs ERO arrested 46,396 illegal immigrants with criminal histories last year. The agency said that those included 198,498 associated charges and convictions.

However, ICEs footprint has been reduced under the Biden administration. The administration, after failing to put a moratorium on deportations, narrowed ICE priorities to recent border crossers, national security threats and public safety threats. Those guidelines have now been blocked by a federal judge.

People walk near the U.S.-Mexico border wall at Friendship Park before being replaced in Playas de Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on Feb. 16, 2023. (GuilleRrmo AriaS/AFP via Getty Images)

A recent budget overview by DHS showed that ICEs deportations of criminal illegal immigrants are being reduced.

In fiscal 2020, the last full year of the Trump administration, the agency aimed to deport 151,000 convicted criminal illegal immigrants, and deported just over 100,000. In fiscal 2021, the target was 97,440 and just 39,149 were removed. By 2022, the first full fiscal year of the Biden administration, the target had dropped to 91,500, and just over 38,000 had been deported.

FORMER TRUMP OFFICIALS SKEPTICAL OF BIDEN ADMIN'S REPORTED PLAN TO RESUME MIGRANT FAMILY DETENTION

The agency has now lowered the targets for fiscal 2023 and 2024 to just 29,393 deportations for each year.

In an explanatory note, ICE said it is taking "every action possible to reduce factors that detract from removal performance, including constant efforts to obtain increased levels of cooperation from foreign countries and increasing the frequency of transport for detainees where possible."

The agency suggested that hiring more deportation officers and attorneys to improve docket management could help reduce "roadblocks and inefficiencies" before suggesting that policy changes by the Biden administration, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, have been responsible for the drop in numbers.

"However, it is important to note that significantly low removal numbers is more the result of environmental factors and policy environment than operational performance," it said.

Meanwhile, ICE's sister DHS agency Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Friday that Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector had arrested four gang members and a sex offender among the migrants they encountered this week. One of the men is a 41-year-old Mexican with a prior conviction for sexual abuse of a minor in Indiana, while agents in McAllen also arrested a Paisas, MS-13 and Wild Mexicans gang member from El Salvador, along with a Mexican with a prior conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and manslaughter.

That comes just days after Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz told lawmakers that the southern border is not under operational control.

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ICE arrests 220 criminal illegal immigrants with convictions including rape, murder - Fox News

March 17, 2023 | Austin, Texas | Press Release

Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas National Guard are continuing to work together to secure the border; stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas; and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal behavior between ports of entry.

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 357,000 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 26,000 criminal arrests, with more than 23,000 felony charges reported. In the fight against fentanyl, DPS has seized over 367 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.

Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration's refusal to secure the border. Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden's open border policies.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS FROM OPERATION LONE STAR:

WATCH: Governor Abbott Touts Role Of Operation Lone Star In Securing Border

As President Biden continues to ignore the crisis at Americas southern border, Governor Abbott is working to protect Texans from transnational criminal activity and secure the border from record-high levels of illegal immigration.

Texans are furious about the lawlessness caused by President Bidens open border policies, said Governor Abbott. Texas has done more than any state ever to secure our border.

WATCH: DPS Lt. Olivarez Slams Failed Policies After Surge Of Illegal Immigrants

DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez joined Fox News this week to discuss the ongoing chaos at the southern border days after a surge of over 1,000 illegal immigrants rushed the border at El Paso and attempted to enter the U.S. illegally. He notes that large groups of migrants are also waiting in Mexico to enter with the Biden Administrations CBP One mobile app, which has not stemmed the flow of illegal immigration.

Thats an example of failed border policies, and were seeing this mad surge of people coming across the border, said Lt. Olivarez. There have been reports that the CBP One app is not working, and thats why people are getting frustrated. The cartels are also spreading messages on social media to try to get people to come across and distract law enforcement. They want to expose more vulnerable gaps along the border so they can bring across criminals, fugitives, or drugs.

WATCH: DPS Regional Director Sanchez Details Plans For Mass Migration Events

DPS West Texas Regional Director Jose Sanchez described to Fox News how last weekend's rush of illegal immigrants at the border in El Paso unfolded and how DPS' coordinated efforts with law enforcement partners identify border vulnerabilities and prevent mass illegal immigration. After the surge of 15,000 Haitians near Del Rio in 2021, DPS has worked with border security partners to ensure a rapid response to escalating mass migration events along the Texas-Mexico border.

Thank goodness that Governor Abbott is in big support of Operation Lone Star West, said Regional Director Sanchez. He has provided us with the resources that we need to help prevent an incursion like this.

WATCH: Texas National Guard Helps Repel Surge Of Illegal Immigrants At El Paso

Texas National Guard soldiers worked alongside Operation Lone Star partners to repel the surge of illegal immigrants who rushed the border at El Paso last weekend. Texas Border Czar Mike Banks explained how mass migration incidents like these will continue as long as the federal government fails to take action to secure the border.

The soldiers and troopers did an outstanding job assisting [with the bridge incident], but I think this is just the beginning, said Border Czar Banks. We have immigrants amassing at our southern border hoping for a chance to apply. When they get tired of waiting, tired of the broken promises, they are going to start pushing forward.

WATCH: DPS Lt. Olivarez Highlights Growing Dangers For Americans Along Border

DPS Lt. Olivarez spoke with Fox News about DPS warning to Americans to avoid traveling to Mexico amid escalating violence, after a group of Americans was recently kidnapped and murdered in Matamoros and as three women remain missing after crossing the border from Texas. With Mexican cartels continuing to profit off President Bidens open border policies, a federal designation as foreign terrorist organizations is more critical than ever. Last September, Governor Abbott designated Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.

How many more Americans are we going to lose with this continued disaster, with fentanyl coming across our border and these cartels that are more powerful than ever before, said Lt. Olivarez. Something needs to be done. Theres enough rhetoric and talk, but its time for the federal government to take responsibility and go after these organizations with a designation of terrorist organizations.

WATCH: DPS Lt. Olivarez Explains Recent DPS Warning Against Travel To Mexico

DPS Lt. Olivarez spoke with CNN to highlight the growing threat of violence along the Texas-Mexico border, with rival cartels fighting each other over territory and drug smuggling routes that create a highly volatile situation in the region. Despite President Biden turning a blind eye to the ongoing chaos at the southern border, DPS says the first step in curbing the Mexican cartels violence would be a federal designation as terrorist organizations.

We are very concerned at the state level with the increased violence and the Mexican drug cartels that represent a significant threat to anyone who crosses into Mexico, said Lt. Olivarez. We know that many Americans have traveled to resorts like in Cancun without incident, but we cant ignore the risks. The cartels now have a heavy influence in Mexico, even in those resorts.

WATCH: Teenage Smuggler Leads DPS On High-Speed Pursuit With Infant In Car

A 16-year-old smuggler led DPS troopers on a high-speed vehicle pursuit in Webb County with an infant inside the car. During the pursuit, the driver from Laredo ran several red lights and went through a construction zone. He eventually crashed into a canal, where he was arrested.

He is charged with smuggling of persons. Six illegal immigrants, including the infant, were referred to Border Patrol.

DPS Brush Team Seizes 300 Lbs. Of Marijuana From SUV After Driver Bails Out

A DPS brush team responded to a camera activation that led them to an SUV exiting a private ranch in Webb County. Troopers stopped the vehicle, and the driver bailed out and ran into the brush. Troopers seized 300 pounds of marijuana from the vehicle.

Originally posted here:
Operation Lone Star Repels Rush Of Illegal Immigrants At El Paso Border - Office of the Texas Governor