Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently told the New York Post that it released 43 of the more than 200 illegal aliens who were accused of storming the southern border earlier this year.
A large mob of illegal immigrants rushed law enforcement in El Paso, Texas, on March 21. Footage of the incident captured by the Post showed the rowdy group of primarily adult males ripping down the concertina wire near Gate 36, a closed area of the border that is not a designated port of entry. The illegal aliens shoved past five guardsmen to run up to the gate, according to the video.
‘Sometimes we arrest a child molester and he gets released because of housing space.’
The 211 individuals received riot participation charges and were taken into state custody. El Paso County Judge Ruben Morales dismissed the charges in May, claiming that the state failed to provide a transfer order to move the cases from district to county court.
The illegal aliens were subsequently transferred to ICE custody to face federal unlawful entry charges.
An ICE spokesperson told the Post that 43 of the individuals were released into the U.S. and another 43 were deported. Thirty-two others remain in custody while they await hearings, and 105 individuals are in custody pending removal from the country, the spokesperson stated.
The spokesperson told the news outlet that ICE releases individuals on a “case-by-case basis.”
“ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] officers make decisions on associated enforcement actions and apply prosecutorial discretion, where applicable, in a responsible manner, informed by their experience as law enforcement professionals and in a way that best protects the communities we serve,” the spokesperson said.
A Department of Homeland Security source told the Post that some illegal immigrants are released from ICE custody because the agency needs to prioritize its limited detention space for those accused of the most severe crimes.
“Sometimes we arrest a child molester and he gets released because of housing space. Or the charge is not egregious enough to keep him or her in custody,” the source claimed.
ICE recently announced that it plans to close down the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, the agency’s largest detention center with the capacity to hold 2,400 inmates, Blaze News previously reported.
In a June press release, ICE stated that the facility is its “most expensive.” By closing down the detention center, it aims to “increase the overall detention bed capacity across the system by an estimated 1,600 beds to better support operational needs.”
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