Border Madness

By Bill West

The Chief of the US Border Patrol, David Aguilar, just testified before the House appropriations subcommittee on homeland security. The Chief�s testimony concerning the Border Patrol�s apprehension of non-Mexican illegal aliens along the US-Mexico border was, unfortunately, both disturbing and not surprising.

So far this year, the Border Patrol has apprehended some 119,000 non-Mexican illegal aliens along the SW border. That is an increase of 175% over last year, which was itself a record year for such apprehensions. What is the reason Homeland Security officials give as why they believe these numbers have risen so dramatically? Incredibly, it is the Federal Government�s own policy of �catch and release.�

�Catch and release� refers, of course, to the policy of releasing on personal recognizance the vast majority of these non-Mexican illegal aliens after they are arrested and processed for removal proceedings. The aliens are served with �Notice to Appear� charging documents and then released, often being driven in Border Patrol vehicles to the nearest bus or train stations for onward transportation to wherever they are destined. The situation has become so ridiculous that such non-Mexican illegals are actually seeking out Border Patrol agents along the border once they have made it in so they can surrender themselves, knowing full well that after a few hours of detention they will be free and on their way to the interior of the US. Exceptionally demoralized Border Patrol agents have taken to calling those charging documents �Notices to Disappear� because, and here is the true insanity, some 85% of those released illegal aliens fail to appear for their subsequent removal hearing in Immigration Court.

Working the numbers, just from last year and so far this year, that means we can easily expect more than 150,000 illegal aliens that were arrested and at least initially detained to become absconder fugitives from the immigration system. And, while the Government tells us these people are released because they were determined to have no criminal records and not to be a security threat, what does that really mean? It means the identity known to the arresting authorities at the time, along with the fingerprints, did not surface on any of the lookout/watch list databases queried, and whatever interrogation was done did not trip any immediate suspicions. Arguably, seventeen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers would have passed that test, as likely would have all of the four 7/7 suicide bomber suspects.

And, what of those very few, the 15% who actually show up for Immigration Court? Here�s a brief example of how the removal court process works:
- Initial Hearing before Immigration Judge (to decide administrative issues and set scheduling)
- Merits Hearing(s) before Immigration Judge (to hear the evidence of the case and render a decision, sometimes the decision is rendered later)
- Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (can take many months, even a year or more to decide)
- Appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (can take many months, sometimes a year or more, depending on the Circuit and case)
- Appeal to the US Supreme Court (rare for a case to be accepted here)
- Habeas action to US District Court if alien is detained (anytime during proceedings if alien is detained)
- Motions to Reopen before the Immigration Court or Board of Immigration Appeals
All of these proceedings can literally take years, especially if the alien is not detained. In this regard, it would even make sense for the alien to actually show up for their court proceedings, especially since every jurisdiction has pro-bono immigration defense legal services available, and fight their cases as far as they can. While the aliens are in removal proceedings, they are in effect in a legal limbo (generally won�t be touched further by immigration authorities), can sometimes be granted employment authorization status, and in some states, especially if they apply for relief from removal such as political asylum, may be eligible for public assistance benefits while all the proceedings are pending. From the illegal alien perspective, what�s not to like?

Homeland Security officials tell us they simply cannot detain all the aliens that are caught on the border. Mexican aliens are summarily returned to Mexico after a brief detention and processing, most only to turn around and attempt illegal entry again, and again and again until they succeed. For Mexicans, that is why they choose the �Voluntary Removal� status instead of formal removal proceedings. Ironically, if Mexican illegal aliens ever got the idea to start asking for formal removal hearings before Immigration Courts, as they are entirely lawfully entitled to do under the law, the Mad-Hatter system that is teetering on the edge of the cliff would collapse in about a day. Very likely, those Mexican illegal aliens, too, would walk freely out the door of the Border Patrol stations with their �Notices to Disappear� like their non-Mexican illegal colleagues�instead of being sent (albeit temporarily) back across the border to Mexico.

The sad truth is there is no border control. There is border chaos that is sort of managed at varying levels. Until our political leaders recognize that hard choices need to be made and hard action needs to be taken to secure our borders, and that means real manpower and detention and swift removal of illegal aliens caught entering the country, the madness will continue and likely get worse.

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