(Corine Gatti, Headline USA) While the harsh reality of the situation at the border grows more chaotic by the day, a leaked memo of an internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection directive offered a glimpse into the process by which agents decided which migrants are released into the U.S.
The checklist, obtained by the Daily Caller, was attached to a December 2022 email about “Safe Community Release.” It outlined three conditions that must be met before migrants can be released into the community.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and nongovernmental organizations must lack space to allow migrants into the country, the news outlet reported. Border Patrol facilities must exceed capacity in order to allow for the release of migrants, while ICE and nongovernmental organizations needed to reach capacity on a daily basis.
“Sectors will need to completely fill out the checklist with names and titles of all notified parties and email to USBP HQ at least 1 hour prior to completing the release,” the memo stated about the checklist.
National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd confirmed the validity of the documents and stated that while the checklist is policy, the overwhelming number of migrants in processing has led to releases without the use of the document.
“This is policy that is supposed to be done,” Judd told the Daily Caller. “Whether it falls through the cracks because of how busy we are, certainly things will fall through the cracks.”
With the lifting of Title 42, the Biden administration had initially sought to use its parole authority to release migrants into the country without requiring them to appear in court. However, this plan was struck down by a federal judge after Florida filed a lawsuit.
The administration is standing firm in its position that it is not allowing a mass release of migrants, despite multiple reports to the contrary. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre last Friday claimed those reports were not valid.
“The claims that CBP is allowing or encouraging release of migrants is just categorically false … and it is a harmful ruling,” she gaslighted.
