EXCLUSIVE: Fox News learned from a senior Customs and Border Protection (CBP) source that a plan is being considered for Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector (RGV) to begin releasing illegal cruisers who apply for asylum without issue a Notice of Attendance (NTA) – meaning that they will leave custody without a trial date.
Such a decision would be unprecedented if enacted and would place the responsibility for seeking an asylum hearing on migrants through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or legal assistance.
The source says the reasoning for the decision is that the situation “has become so dire that BP [Border Patrol] you have no choice but to release people almost immediately after the seizure, because there is no space to hold people back or even to do the necessary NTA paperwork. “
The process of issuing an NTA for each migrant can take hours per individual or family. This does not apply to unaccompanied minors.
The Texas-based RGV is ground zero for the increase in border crossings and has over 700% overcapacity.
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When migrants are released on RGV, the Border Patrol usually coordinates this with Sister Norma Pimentel and her Catholic Humanitarian Rest Center. Pimentel told Fox News that she is aware and is “coordinating her response”.
The controversial move allegedly on the table comes as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working to open another facility for unaccompanied migrant children in Pecos, Texas, the Refugee Resettlement Office (ORR) announced on Saturday.
The Temporary Influx Care Facility would house at least 500 unaccompanied minors to start, with a capacity to house 2,000 children.
“While ORR has worked to increase its licensed bed capacity to almost 13,500 beds, additional capacity is urgently needed to manage improved COVID-19 mitigation strategies and the growing number of DHS UC referrals,” said a spokesperson. voice of the ORR.
The head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, said last week that border crossings should be the highest in 20 years.
The CBP announced that it found more than 100,000 migrants at the border in February, while the number of migrant children in custody has also increased dramatically. The Biden administration has moved to increase the facility’s capacity to house migrants and build a number of extra facilities – including observing NASA sites and military bases.
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“We are on our way to find more individuals on the southwestern border than in the past 20 years,” said Mayorkas, although he later added that the situation “is not new” and noted that the United States has faced border peaks before.
On Friday, The Washington Post reported that the Biden government is considering sending migrants to states near the Canadian border for processing.
CBP requested support from the ICE plane on Friday after 1,000 families of migrants and unaccompanied minors crossed Rio Grande into southern Texas early Friday, Homeland Security officials told The Washington Post. Border agents reportedly still had another 1,000 migrants that they were unable to prosecute on Thursday night.
The backups at CBP are exacerbated by the nearly 4,500 unaccompanied children held in detention centers and tents on the border, many beyond the legal limit of three days.
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During the record increase in the 2019 border under President Trump, the ICE transported migrants to other sectors of the border with the capacity to maintain them.
Fox News contacted several DHS officials before publishing this story.