Thousands of unaccompanied children and families caught illegally crossing the U.S. southern border this past summer have “simply disappeared,” reports KPRC Houston.
Many illegals caught crossing the border had to be released due to a lack of detention space required to hold such detainees while they awaited their deportation hearings.
Those released reportedly agreed to appear before an immigration judge at a later date. As the numbers reveal, many failed to honor their word.
Between July and October of 2014, of the 30,467 families and unaccompanied children caught crossing the border, only 22-percent have received a definitive court decision as to whether they will be allowed to stay in the U.S. or be deported, KPRC details.
Out of the 4,197 families released on their own recognizance and ordered by an immigration judge to be removed, 96-percent are “in absentia,” meaning that they failed to show in immigration court.
Of the 1,671 unaccompanied children given deportation orders, 92-percent can’t be found.
There are thousands of pending border crossing cases that remain undecided. “Federal officials say it could take several months to possibly years for all of these cases to be decided,” says KPRC.
The Department of Homeland Security has vowed to find those illegals released on their own recognizance who have failed to attend their court hearings and have since disappeared.