In a bizarre admission of abject failure, Immigration and Customs Enforcement revealed in a training video that the agency “lost” 150,000 illegal migrants.
The snafu was so widespread that the Biden administration launched “Operation Horizon” late last year in an attempt to track the missing illegals.
ICE training videos reveal agency lost track of 150K illegal migrants due to Biden admin's lack of processing https://t.co/rPvZxdB85m
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 20, 2022
Fox News published training videos Tuesday showing an ICE official explaining the massive error. And it came down to a ridiculously simple reason.
Due to the White House policy of “no processing,” the 150,000 illegals were merely handed a piece of paper telling them to “go find somebody in ICE.” The official in the video added, “that was pretty much it.”
Of course, ICE agents had incredible difficulty finding illegals in the country without identifying information. The policy inexplicably released the migrants on “prosecutorial discretion or humanitarian parole.”
The training video admitted that they were instructed “to report to the nearest ICE office where they intend to reside.” Obviously, very few did.
The official told trainees through the video that “the process does not address the underlying challenges regarding ICE’s congressionally mandated responsibility to locate, arrest, and place in removal proceedings” those who do not have proper documentation.
That is stating the obvious.
The new Biden policy was enacted on March 15, 2021. The change came during a spike in illegal border crossings, and because of a lack of resources and leadership from the White House, agents were told to release migrants simply with instructions to seek out ICE.
There were no longer formal charging documents in these cases, which typically require those entering the country illegally to appear before a federal immigration judge.
It resulted in the disappearance of approximately 150,000 illegal migrants into the nation, and just months later the agency was sent scrambling to try to locate the fugitives. The videos gathered by Fox News showed officials speaking of desperate issues in finding the unprocessed illegals.
The videos were released, incidentally, just before Title 42 immigration restrictions were set to expire. That fatally flawed move is delayed — at least temporarily — by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ halting of its implementation while several states plead their cases.
From day one of Republican control of the House in January, the GOP needs a laser-sharp focus on the White House’s criminal lack of control of the porous southern border. Investigations and charges should soon follow, and losing 150,000 illegals is a great place to start.
