‘Mass Catch & Release Continues’: Mayorkas Confirms Thousands Released In US, Many Not Tested For COVID

Biden’s Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas admitted on “Fox News Sunday” that nearly all of the Haitian migrants who have been apprehended illegally crossing the Southern border in recent weeks have been released into the country.

Fox News reporter Bill Melugin tweeted Sunday, “Mayorkas admits that 12,000+ Haitian illegal immigrants were released into the US from Del Rio. They were not subject to any vaccine or testing mandates. They were not tested before release. Haiti has a vax rate of less than 1%. Mass catch & release continues under Biden admin.”

Mayorkas admits that 12,000+ Haitian illegal immigrants were released into the US from Del Rio. They were not subject to any vaccine or testing mandates. They were not tested before release. Haiti has a vax rate of less than 1%.
Mass catch & release continues under Biden admin.

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) September 26, 2021

Currently, of those Haitian migrants, around 12,400 are waiting to have their case heard by an immigration judge and 5,000 are still being processed by the Department of Homeland Security, according to Fox News.

When host Chris Wallace asked how many of those 17,400 migrants have been released, Mayorkas responded, “Approximately, I think it’s about ten thousand or so, twelve thousand,” but acknowledged that the number could increase as DHS processes more cases.

“It could be even higher. The number that are returned could be even higher,” Mayorkas admitted. (RELATED: Haitian Migrants Are Being Released Across The US: REPORT)

The Secretary told Wallace that the released migrants are “monitored by” the department to “ensure their appearance in court as the law requires.” However, Wallace noted that, according to the Department of Justice, 44% of migrants that are released don’t appear for their court appointment.

Wallace then asked Mayorkas why the approximately 30,000 Haitians that have crossed the border into Del Rio, Texas since September 9 weren’t stopped.

Mayorkas responded, “We surged our resources, we surged our personnel.”

Wallace, however, continued to press the issue, asking why the U.S. doesn’t have a physical barrier at the border to prevent such crossings.

Secretary Mayorkes retorted, “We do not agree with the building of the wall.” He continued, “the law provides that individuals can make a claim for humanitarian relief. That is actually one of our proudest traditions.” (RELATED: ‘Why Didn’t You Build, Forgive Me, A Wall?’: Chris Wallace Confronts Mayorkas On ‘Flood’ Of Migrants At The Border)

Wallace then referenced a report from the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security which stated that the department is failing to test large numbers of migrants entering the country and is therefore putting local communities at risk.

In response, Mayorkas stated, “that is also nothing new.” He continued, “that is exactly why we have an independent review of our operations to see where we can make improvements, where we can strengthen our processes and that is exactly what we did here.”

In August, Mayorkas warned that the immigration system would be unable to handle the current border crisis, according to a leaked audio recording. Mayorkas can be heard saying, “If our border is the first line of defense, then we’re gonna lose and this is unsustainable,” as previously reported by The Daily Caller.

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