Biden admin has released 72% of migrants who illegally crossed into San Diego despite ‘crackdown’
Border agents have allowed 72% of migrants who illegally crossed into the San Diego sector since the Biden administration’s border ‘crackdown’ to continue into the US, The Post can reveal.
Out of more than 6,800 migrants encountered by Border agents in the Southern California border sector between June 5 and Tuesday morning, more than 4,900 individuals have been released, according to internal federal data seen by The Post.
“It’s all smoke and mirrors,” National Border Patrol Council President for the San Diego border sector Manny Bayon told The Post.
Despite the new rules, border agents in San Diego specifically have been given instructions to exempt citizens of over a 100 countries from being removed, because their home countries won’t accept deportations.
“We have to have cooperation with the countries where we’re sending them back,” Bayon added.
The Biden administration’s new policy is meant to deter illegal border crossers by blocking them from applying for asylum until the number of migrant encounters across the whole southern border falls below 1,500 per day for seven consecutive days.
If that happens, the restrictions could go back into effect when migrant encounters go back up to 2,500 each day for seven days in a row.
Despite those numbers, the official wording of the order says certain groups are excluded, such as those who use the CBP One phone app to cross at a port of entry, enter as unaccompanied minors, or can prove they have suffered “severe” forms of trafficking or face medical emergencies.
It also says the number doesn’t apply to migrants who are “permitted to enter … due to operational considerations at the time of the entry,” which potentially excludes all the 4,900 individuals released in the San Diego sector.
So far migrants have not been deterred and the order hasn’t slowed things down. Large groups continue to flock in to San Diego, which has become the busiest section for illegal crossings in the nation.
Many who turn up in San Diego are from countries of national security concern like Turkey and China, who are led to the area by smugglers advertising on social media.
The international smugglers are attracted by the relative ease of slipping over the border, as there are multiple areas where there are gaps in the border wall, and because they have long known migrants from certain countries won’t be deported.
They also encourage many to burn their passports before entry, further complicating the process of identifying them.
Border Patrol processing centers in San Diego, where migrants are taken when they’re apprehended at the border, are at 255% capacity with more than 2,500 individuals in facilities capable of holding 1,000 individuals, according to the internal data.
“We’re way beyond capacity here in San Diego and it doesn’t look like it’s gonna be lighter anytime soon,” Bayon said, adding the agency has to bus migrants from San Diego to Arizona for them to be processed because of the overwhelming situation.
Video taken by The Post since Biden’s order has gone into place shows migrants crossing by the hundreds into the remote region of Jacumba Hot Springs, which is part of the San Diego border sector.
