100,000 Illegal Aliens Caught, Released Under Congressional catch-and-release mandate
President Donald Trump’s border agencies have released 100,000 migrants [illegal aliens] since January 2017 because of Congress’ catch-and-release laws, says an administration statement provided to the Washington Post.
The newspaper reported:
The Trump administration has freed about 100,000 immigrants caught at the U.S.-Mexico border in the 15 months since the president took office, newly released government figures show, despite repeated promises to end President Barack Obama’s “catch and release” policies.
Homeland Security officials say they had to release the migrants — more than 37,500 unaccompanied minors and more than 61,000 family members — because of judges’ rulings and federal laws banning prolonged detentions for children, as well as a lack of detention beds...
Since 2009, the catch-and-release policies have allowed at least 600,000 Central American migrants to seek asylum in the United States. The huge population has overwhelmed the asylum courts, causing multi-year backlogs....