A congressional report revealed that the Biden administration has allowed federal law enforcement at the southern border to release 2.1 million illegal immigrants into the United States between President Joe Biden's first day in office and March 31, 2023 — 90% of whom did not claim asylum .
Of the 3,447,327 people encountered at the southern border in that 26-month time frame, the overwhelming majority, or 2,148,738, were let into the country, according to an analysis of government data released by the House Judiciary Committee and its subcommittee on immigration integrity, security, and enforcement Monday.
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The report found that the Biden administration had overwhelmingly failed to remove people who illegally entered the country and were then placed into court proceedings.
"Between January 20, 2021, and March 31, 2023, the Biden Administration has removed from the United States only 5,993 illegal aliens who were encountered at the southwest border and who were placed in removal proceedings before an immigration judge during that time," the Republican-controlled committee wrote in the report. "In other words, of the at least 2.1 million aliens released into the United States since January 20, 2021, the Biden Administration has failed to remove, through immigration court removal proceedings, roughly 99.7 percent of those illegal aliens."
Most immigrants were discharged from federal custody with a notice to appear that requires them to report to immigration officials once settled in the U.S. Court proceedings take years, and many immigration courts nationwide have given immigrants initial court appearance dates three to five years in the future, which the committee used to undercut the Biden administration as not removing people to the extent that it had vowed.
"This information contradicts the assertions of the Administration, and the statements of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, that the southwest border is closed and illegal aliens are removed from the country quickly," the report stated.
In February, Mayorkas said many illegal immigrants have "not sought to evade law enforcement but have actually surrendered themselves to law enforcement and made a claim for relief under our laws."
Of the 2.1 million releases into the U.S., approximately 1.9 million immigrants did not make an asylum claim before the Biden administration released them. Most immigrants were released into the country without undergoing an initial screening to see if they met the bare minimum requirements to be placed into the asylum-seeking process.
The Department of Homeland Security referred the Washington Examiner to a White House spokesperson who accused House Republicans of making undeserved attacks on the administration's border policies.
“This so-called report is full of lies from House Republicans who continue to play politics while sabotaging President Biden’s work to ramp up enforcement and personnel at the border," a White House spokesperson wrote in an email Monday morning.
"The fact is President Biden requested $4 billion from Congress months ago in order to deploy 4,000 more troops to the border, add 1,500 border agents, support officers with new equipment and fund new detection technology to intercept the flow of fentanyl into the country," the White House official said. "House Republicans have refused to act on this request and provide DHS the tools to safely and humanely manage the Southwest Border, they have been pre-occupied posturing and bickering."
The White House added that the Republican report does not mention the number of illegal immigrants who were immediately removed from the U.S. under a category that is separate from people placed in court removal proceedings.
"Since May 12, we have removed or returned nearly 300,000 individuals, and there have been more than 3.6 million repatriations and expulsions since January 2021," the White House said.
Last week, the White House announced plans to begin deporting illegal immigrants immediately from Venezuela who come across the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully.
Senior administration officials told reporters in a call last Thursday that the U.S. would resume repatriation flights of Venezuelan immigrants who are deemed removable from the country.
This admin colossal failure!!