Border crossers arriving at the United States-Mexico border are being put up in high-rise hotels in southern California to quarantine before being released into the interior of the U.S., the New York Times reports.
As President Joe Biden’s administration has restarted Catch and Release — whereby border crossers are freed into the U.S. interior while awaiting their asylum and immigration hearings — many are being put up in hotels to quarantine until they are released.
In Texas, border crossers do not have to quarantine before being released into the U.S.
The Times reports:
To guard against the coronavirus, health authorities in San Diego have arranged housing for hundreds of arriving migrants in a downtown high-rise hotel, where they are being quarantined before being allowed to join family or friends in the interior of the United States. [Emphasis added]
…
Health authorities in San Diego have ruled that those crossing into California must remain at the hotel for 10 days before being allowed to go onward. There is no similar quarantine requirement in Texas for migrants who arrive with no coronavirus symptoms, according to volunteers working with the migrants; there, they said, those released by Border Patrol are being allowed to board buses and travel to other destinations. [Emphasis added]
…
In San Diego, more hotels were being lined up to take in migrants, said Ms. Clark of Jewish Family Service. “We are going to need federal resources,” she said. [Emphasis added]
The Times report reveals some of the first totals of the rate at which border crossers are being released into the U.S. despite the ongoing Chinese coronavirus crisis. The uptick in border crossers, the Times admits, is due to “expectations of a friendlier reception” spurred by the Biden administration’s talk of amnesty for illegal aliens, a halt to deportations, and a crippling of interior immigration enforcement.
For instance, the Times reports that more than 1,000 border crossers have been released into the U.S. interior “in recent days,” while migrant camps across the border in Mexico have “boomed to 1,000 people over the past few weeks.”
Activists said that at least 1,000 border crossers have been released into the U.S. “in recent days” in Texas and hundreds more have been released in southern California.
According to Catch and Release totals from one advocacy group, more than 200 border crossers have been released to them in southern California in the first week of February. For context, only 54 border crossers were released to the group in the entire month of December and just 140 in January.
In Texas, 47 migrant families were released near Kingsville, Texas, recently.
The increase in Catch and Release has meant a shift in the kinds of migration the U.S. is experiencing as well. Previously, federal immigration officials had made clear that lacking health care is not a legal claim for asylum.
The Biden administration is using parole programs to release border crossers who are in poor health into the U.S. so they can take advantage of public resources and medical services meant for legal immigrants and American citizens.
One case detailed by the Times noted that a Honduran national in poor health had fled Honduras with her family more than a year ago but was not admitted to the U.S. until a week ago thanks to a loose border policy by the Biden administration.
As Breitbart News reported, the Biden administration has been releasing border crossers into the U.S. without testing them for coronavirus. Nearly 400 border crossers in McAllen, Texas, were released in recent weeks and given parole to stay in the U.S.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com.