Illegal aliens arriving at the United States–Mexico border are taking full advantage of President Joe Biden’s expansive Catch and Release network that briefly detains those crossing the border before quickly releasing them into American communities, U.S. Border Patrol agents tell Congress.
In interviews conducted by the House Homeland Security Committee, chaired by Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) from May through September, eight Border Patrol agents detailed the extent to which Biden’s Catch and Release network has turned the southern border into a mere checkpoint for illegal aliens to stop at before heading into the United States interior.
Chief Patrol Agent Jason Owens of the Del Rio Sector in Texas told the committee that more illegal aliens are turning themselves in to Border Patrol than ever before because “they believe that they’re going to be processed and given a Notice to Appear so that they can await their immigration hearing in the United States.”
Indeed, since Biden took office, more than 1.2 million border crossers have been released into the United States interior on Notices to Appear (NTA) at a later date before a federal immigration judge. This does not include another million who have been released on parole and through other means.
Even when illegal aliens are detained at the border, the majority are eventually released into the U.S. interior under Biden, Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Dustin Caudle of the Yuma Sector in Arizona told the committee:
Committee: Do you know since January—well, if you know, since January 2021, how many people have been released from Border Patrol custody from the Yuma Sector?
Caudle: I don’t have an accurate number to be able to give you.
Committee: Do you know from your time in Yuma?
Caudle: Somewhere between 65 to 70 percent.
Committee: Of encounters?
Caudle: Yes, ma’am.
In the San Diego, California, sector of the border, Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke told the committee that “right now,” the majority of illegal aliens encountered are released into the U.S. interior.
Perhaps most astonishing is that Border Patrol agents are often well aware that many of the illegal aliens they are being forced to release into the U.S. interior do not have valid claims for asylum to stay in the country.
Caudle, for example, was asked by the committee if agents ever ask those crossing the border why they have taken the often-deadly journey through Mexico to the United States. Caudle said the answers vary but that the most common reasons are not legitimate asylum claims.
“Some of the more common ones are better pay, better opportunities for the family, to raise a family,” Caudle said of the reasons given by illegal aliens as to why they have come to the border. “Again, the belief that they are going to be released with no consequence is certainly something that many migrants tell our agents.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
