President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have repeatedly bragged that the Trump administration is allowing “zero” unauthorized immigrants to cross the border into the United States. But a new scoop from the conservative Washington Examiner reveals that’s not true — and some immigrants are indeed being released into the country after being apprehended.
“Although the number of border crossers let into the interior of the country is significantly smaller than it was during the Biden administration, that some illegal immigrants have been released into the U.S. at all appears to contradict President Donald Trump’s claim during the State of the Union address, as well as numerous statements by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, that no one had been let in since early last summer,” reported Anna Giaritelli.
Under federal law, Border Patrol can only hold detainees for up to 72 hours, after which they must be handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further action. The issue is that ICE is, in fact, then releasing an unspecified number of people that Border Patrol turns over to them, according to the report.
According to one person who texted the Examiner, “Dirty little secret that the [Trump administration] does not want getting out for obvious reasons. There are in fact folks who are being released who recently crossed the border. … [Border Patrol] is not releasing anyone, but ICE is.”
For years prior to the Trump administration, ICE has placed low-risk detainees in “Alternatives to Detention,” where they essentially are released into the local community with a court date and must check in with authorities. It has been proven to work, but Trump has long attacked the idea. Despite this, per the report, Alternatives to Detention continue to be used.
This revelation comes amid other damning reporting about Noem, including that she buried an inspector general report on a security flaw in her highly-touted airport security reforms.
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