Feds Release More Than 18K Unaccompanied Alien Children Into the U.S. In Four Months

Brittany M. Hughes | March 19, 2019
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President Obama may no longer be in office, but his catch-and-release policies for unaccompanied minors who come into the United States illegally seem to be trucking along unimpeded.

In the four short months between October and January, government data reveals 18,366 unaccompanied illegal alien children were released into the United States after coming into the country unlawfully. Most are sent to family members who are already residing in the country illegally themselves.

Even as the Trump administration wrangles with Congress and the courts to stem illegal immigration at the Southwest border, policies requiring immigration authorities to release unaccompanied children to sponsors within the United States pending a court date have resulted in more than 53,000 illegal alien children being set free in the U.S. in just the last year and a half.

According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, during that time frame the top receiving states for UACs were California (6,869), Texas (6,431), Florida (6,188), New York (4,300), New Jersey (2,908), and Maryland (2,890).

Even with the inauguration of Trump in early 2017, it doesn’t look like the tide has stemmed much at all. Prior to Trump taking office, the Obama administration released anywhere from 27,840 UACs in FY2015 to 53,515 at the height of the wave in 2014.

And at 34,815 released last year alone, the flood isn’t stopping anytime soon.

The wave of illegal alien kids coming into the U.S. only to be released into the country comes as border agents are warning of a massive surge in the number of illegal alien families and lone children crossing the border unlawfully. In February alone, more than 76,000 parents with children and unaccompanied kids were apprehended at the Southwest border, setting a new record as agents report a 430 percent increase in the number of family and child migrants.

 

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