Despite claims that his administration would end the so-called “catch and release” program for migrants caught at the border and seeking asylum, the government said today it would begin releasing hundreds of migrants because there is no place to put them. From The New York Times:
- “Faced with a pair of court orders restricting immigration detentions, federal officials said they could not hold all of the migrant families who were apprehended at the southwestern border.
- “They said their hands were tied by dueling requirements to release children from detention after 20 days and also keep them with their parents or other adult relatives.
- “Confronted by audio of crying children that drew widespread outrage, Trump administration officials also said they had stopped referring migrant adults who enter the United States with children for prosecution.”
https://twitter.com/JoshDorner/status/1016854724220317696
It wasn’t so long ago that Trump promised to end “catch and release.” On April 6th he signed an order stopping the practice. Now, a reversal. From The Times:
- “Mr. Trump has for years railed against catch and release, blaming it for crimes and violence committed by illegal immigrants during the administration of President Barack Obama. But the Trump administration has similarly struggled with deterring waves of migrants from Central and South America — and, once they enter the country, processing them through the legal system humanely.”