Unaccompanied minors and family units are being captured at the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers as the Trump administration and Congress consider amnesty for 1.8 million illegal immigrants, the Department of Homeland Security warned in a Thursday release.
“Due to legal loopholes and court backlogs, even apprehended illegal aliens are released and become part of the temporary, illegal population of people that we cannot remove,” DHS warned as the Senate considers immigration proposals to codify DACA protections into law.
The Trump administration has insisted that any bill which will codify Obama-era protections for illegal immigrants into law must be accompanied by funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, an end to chain migration, and the closing of legal loopholes allowing catch and release for minors and family units.
“DHS can only detain UACs for 20 days before releasing them to the Department of Health and Human Services which places the minors in foster or shelter situations until they locate a sponsor,” the agency explained, adding, “When these minors are released, they often fail to appear for court hearings or comply with removal orders.”
The Trump administration has also targeted the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 which dictates that unaccompanied minors “who are not from Mexico and Canada are exempt from prompt return to their home country,” declaring “these loopholes create a pull factor that invites more illegal immigration and encourages parents to pay and entrust their children to criminal organizations that will smuggle them in.”