Governor Greg Abbott says Texas will "step up" to add security along the border, saying illegal migration around Del Rio only stopped when DPS and the Texas National Guard started parking vehicles along the border. Abbott made the comments on Fox News Sunday.
"The Biden Administration cares far more about people who are not in this country than he does about American citizens who live in this country," he says.
Abbott says DPS will arrest those crossing the border for trespassing, saying Texas was left "in no position other than for us to step up to do what we have to do." Last week, he sent the Biden Administration a letter asking for a federal emergency declaration.
"The Biden Administration has abandoned any pretense of securing the sovereignty of either Texas or the United States by having these open border policies," Abbott says. "They have created a magnet that led to these massive groups of Haitians as well as other groups that are coming here for one reason. That's because [the Biden Administration] have sent a message and a signal to the entire world they are not going to secure the border. They are going to allow them across."
Abbott says illegal migration only stopped when DPS and the Texas National Guard showed up with "hundreds if not thousands of vehicles." He says Texas will arrest those coming across the border for trespassing.
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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says about 30,000 Haitian migrants have come across the border since September 9. He says 12,400 will have cases heard by an immigration judge; 5,000 others are now being processed.
Mayorkas says about 3,000 are now in detention. About 10,000 have been released.
"We make those detention determinations in the best interest of the American public," he says. "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."
According to the Department of Justice, about 25% of all immigration hearings took place without the alien returning in fiscal year 2018, the most recent year statistics were available. The Justice Department says that rate had increased from 11% in 2012.
Of 182,421 total cases in 2018, 45% were were never detained. Of those who were not detained, 41% did not return for hearings. Of those who were detained and then released, 34% did not return. Of those seeking asylum, 11% did not return.
Mayorkas says the increase in migrants either trying to cross the border illegally or seeking asylum is "nothing new."
"We've seen this type of irregular migration many, many times," he says. "I don't know if Governor Abbott said the same thing in 2019 when there were more than a million people encountered at the southern border. We are certainly seeing a large number this year, but in 2019, we saw a large number, in 2014, in 2010. This is nothing new. It spans many, many years. It spans different administrations of both parties."
Mayorkas says that history highlights the need for Congressional action on immigration reform.
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