On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE Director during the Obama administration, stated that the numbers of people coming to the border are “far, far bigger than we ever dealt with during my time at the department, when that was viewed as a crisis.” And “unless and until we start sending people back to their home country, this flow is going to continue.”
Sandweg said that “the fundamental problem is we’re just not enforcing the laws that are on the books because the system is overwhelmed. Now, as I understand it, some of the things the Senate is talking about would be streamlining the process, which, ostensibly, could kind of provide that deterrent effect. Look, unless and until we start sending people back to their home country, this flow is going to continue. Ostensibly, the Senate could — depending on what exactly they agree on — could streamline that process, allowing the department to effectuate the deportation of individuals, which could stop the flow.”
He added that there are many people who have legitimate asylum claims and we could have dealt with the crisis earlier by surging resources into the asylum system, and “These are massive numbers, these are numbers that are unprecedented, certainly far, far bigger than we ever dealt with during my time at the department, when that was viewed as a crisis.”
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