Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on this week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday” that approximately 12,000 Haitian migrants had been released into the United States, and he added that the tally “could be even higher.”
Anchor Chris Wallace said, “I want to start with those 30,000 Haitian migrants who came across the border into Del Rio, Texas, since September 9th, as you say. You say that 12,400 will have their cases heard by an immigration judge, and another 5,000 are being processed by your department. Mr. Secretary, of those 17,400, how many have been released into the U.S. and how many more potentially could be released into the U.S.?”
Mayorkas said, “About 3,000 are actually in detention, and we make those detention determinations in the best interest of the American public. Others are in immigration court proceedings. They are monitored by us. We impose conditions upon them, so we keep in touch with them and ensure their appearance in court as the law requires.
Wallace said, “So are we talking about a total of 12,000, or could it be even higher?”
Mayorkas said, “It could be even higher if the number that are returned could be even higher. What we do is we follow the law as Congress has passed it.”
Wallace said, “Let’s talk about what it’s going to happen to those 12,000. Removal proceedings, including asylum cases, can take anywhere from six months to several years, and 44%, according to the Department of Justice, 44% of those who are released into custody, miss their court hearings. Just as a matter of reality, won’t many of those thousands of people end up settling here in the united states, some of them permanently?”
Mayorkas said, “We have enforcement guidelines in place that provide that individuals who are recent border crossers who do not show up for their hearings are enforcement priorities, and will be removed.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.