Staff Reports
Under the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has managed to transform the lives of over half a million known criminal migrants across the United States into something akin to an extended vacation. With priorities straight from the political playbook of “let’s not enforce the law,” the DHS has kept detention space, which is supposed to be reserved for these priority deportations, astonishingly empty.
Data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reveals that there are over 425,000 convicted criminal migrants living freely among American citizens, along with more than 222,000 who have pending criminal charges. One might think that having such a large number of criminals on the loose would trigger some sort of alarm. Yet, instead, Biden and Harris have let the non-detained docket swell to a staggering projected total of over eight million migrants by the end of the year. This massive figure is no coincidence; it contrasts sharply with the 3.2 million migrants on this docket when former President Trump was in office. Under the current administration, it’s as if a welcoming committee has been put in charge of immigration policy.
DHS Keeps Detention Space Unfilled as Over Half a Million Criminal Migrants Live Throughout U.S.
"By the end of the year, more than eight million illegal migrants will be on ICE’s non-detained docket."https://t.co/RG28UlfKQX pic.twitter.com/BqCXOHWbgz
— Trump2024_no_matter_what (@TexasTrump2024) October 1, 2024
While the southern border remains a hotspot for illegal entries, the Biden-Harris team has actively chosen to leave thousands of detention beds untouched. Although Congress has allocated funding for 41,500 detention beds, recent data indicates that DHS is only utilizing around 37,395 of them. That leaves over 4,100 potential beds gathering dust. One might consider this a classic case of mismanagement, but perhaps “mismanagement” doesn’t capture the aloofness with which Biden’s team handles serious matters of national security.
Accompanying this underutilization of detention beds is the stark reality that more than 85 percent of migrants arriving at the southern border are being released into the U.S. interior. The idea that only a tiny fraction are being monitored through the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program reeks of a nonchalance about law enforcement that few could fathom. With the southern border in turmoil, one would think that even a hint of care for American safety would necessitate increased detention capacity.
A distinct contrast arises when looking at the voices of law enforcement.
Acting ICE Director Patrick Lechleitner notably pushed Congress to fund a minimum of 50,000 detention beds, a plea that continues to echo through the corridors of an administration seemingly unconcerned with the realities on the ground. Experts have gone further, arguing that the federal government should be ramping up to hundreds of thousands of detention beds to match the current wave of illegal immigration. Instead, the Biden-Harris administration appears more focused on creating more opportunities for criminals than on promoting safety for American citizens. It reflects a suspicious lack of prioritization that could raise eyebrows in even the most open-minded circles.
