Trump Quietly Continues Obama’s ‘Catch and Release’ at Border

President Donald J. Trump is allowing former President Barack Obama’s “catch and release” of illegal immigrants to continue deep into his administration’s term with no end in sight to the controversial open borders protocol. Border Patrol agents are once again sounding the alarm and alerting the public about the separation between DC’s rhetoric and the realities on the U.S.-Mexico border — a practice that the agents hoped would become unnecessary under the Trump Administration.

Though Trump’s interior enforcement of U.S. immigration laws has resulted in far fewer illegal crossings at the border, agents say that low numbers will not be sustained because the Trump Administration has not actually made substantial changes within border security as a whole.

Border Patrol Agent Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), spoke with Breitbart Texas on Trump’s quiet continuation of Obama’s catch and release. He stated, “Obama’s catch and release is definitely continuing and our government is releasing illegal aliens into U.S. communities. The steps taken for such releases have slightly changed and the numbers are not as high, but it is still occurring. Under Trump, ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is holding more illegal aliens than what they did under Obama, but make no mistake, ICE is still releasing a good number of illegal aliens into U.S. communities. Americans need to know this.”

Though Trump ordered catch-and-release to end and despite claims from the Justice Department that the protocol is now over, the data show that it simply has not ended. One news site touted the program as over, yet further reading in the same article shows it was simply reduced a bit. That news site, The Daily Caller, wrote:

Data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University reveals that it is indeed a “new era.” Records obtained by the group show that 61 percent of immigrants given NTAs under Trump were detained, compared to 27 percent detained under Obama. These are for cases as of the end of March, as immigrants given NTAs under Obama have yet to show up in court.

Border Patrol Agent Judd cautioned against media spin on the issue. He stated, “Again, Americans need to know the facts here. They need to know that a decrease in the numbers of illegal aliens released does not mean the program is over. Outlets or leaders making such claims only serve to reduce the accurate information that Americans need to make decisions.” Agent Judd continued,  “Illegal aliens are being released into U.S. communities just as they were under President Obama.”

Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.

(Disclosure: Breitbart Texas sponsored the Green Line podcast for the NBPC in an effort to provide a platform for agents to inform the public about the realities on the border and what Border Patrol agents face. Director Brandon Darby received an award from the Laredo chapter of the NBPC for his work in helping to defend and bring a voice to Border Patrol agents. Breitbart News assisted in covering funeral costs for a slain Border Patrol agent previously.)