The Biden administration turned back an average of just 13% of nearly 13,000 migrant family members attempting to cross at the U.S. southern border this past week.
Axios attributed the information to new data leaked by the Department of Homeland Security. The information covers the week of March 14. The family members were all returned to Mexico.
The action came despite the administration keeping a Trump-era policy called "Title 42," Axios noted. Title 42 can be used to quickly turn back adults and family who illegally cross into the U.S from Mexico.
Axios noted the figures do not mean the remaining 87% will be able to stay in the U.S. indefinitely. However, they will be permitted to remain and go through immigration proceedings, which can take years.
According to Axios, it is a sign of how Biden officials are struggling to keep up with the surge at the border. It noted the administration has been recently stymied by Mexico’s inability to accept more families the U.S. otherwise would expel.
A DHS official said the administration is "working with our partners in Mexico to increase their capacity."
But a DHS spokesperson told the website one week’s figures don’t fully reflect the administration’s efforts.
"Our policy remains that families are expelled, and in situations where expulsion is not possible due to Mexico’s inability to receive the families, they are placed into removal proceedings," the spokesperson said.
And White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that the process of deporting those families sometimes "takes a minute to ensure there is proper transportation and steps in place to do that."
Psaki maintained there are only "narrow, narrow circumstances in which families can't be expelled."
Meanwhile, Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector have started releasing illegal immigrants into the U.S. without a court date because there is no space to hold them due to a surge in crossings.
Fox News, citing multiple border patrol agents, first reported on the releases. A senior source with Customs and Border Protection told the news outlet that immigrants were being registered into the system with biometrical data at a temporary outdoor processing site, forgoing the hours-long paperwork process to issue a Notice to Appear in court because the crisis has "become so dire that [Border Patrol] has no choice but to release people nearly immediately after apprehension" due to space restrictions.
Former President Donald Trump called Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas "grossly incompetent" on Newsmax TV Monday and predicted a worsening surge of illegal immigrants at the border that the Biden administration may not be able to handle.
Speaking on "Greg Kelly Reports," Trump decried the worsening situation at the border, with Customs and Border Protection statistics showing 100,000 illegal aliens were caught attempting to enter the United States from Mexico in February.
And, in an interview with Fox News, he accused the Biden administration's policies on the border of "destroying the country" and leading to death and tragedy.
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