DHS blames budget after releasing hundreds of unauthorized travelers from U.S. airport

Homeland Security let dozens of illegal immigrants walk free from an airport because it didn’t have the space to hold them until their departing flights, and nearly half of them disappeared, never returning for their scheduled departures, an inspector general said Monday.

From 2021 to 2023, Customs and Border Protection released at least 383 “inadmissible travelers” from its custody because officials didn’t have overnight detention space to hold them. Of those, 168 never returned for their outbound flights, the inspector general said.

Worse yet, CBP never issued immigration summonses to dozens of the travelers because the agency “did not have an effective process to track” those who failed to come back to the airport.

The travelers were coming to the U.S. but were deemed inadmissible when they were screened on arrival. Under those conditions, they are supposed to be put on a plane back.

CBP can either hold them at the airport for up to 72 hours for a return flight, or can ship them to ICE for a hold, or can send them to another airport that has an available flight. Or in some cases, the traveler can be released.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/jun/17/dhs-blames-budget-after-releasing-hundreds-of-unau/