(LibertySociety.com) – Republican lawmakers are calling out the Biden administration for its policies regarding the inflow of illegal migrants at the southern border. With multiple policy changes over the last several months, some of which are being challenged in court, the motives of the Biden administration are increasingly scrutinized. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is under fire once again for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plan which is included in the yearly budget for 2024. DHS is planning a reduction in bed availability for illegal migrant detentions in ICE facilities, dropping their capacity from 34,000 to 25,000.
Senator Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration is signaling that it “wants to triple down on his catch-and-release, open borders agenda,” claiming that record amounts of migrants coming to the United States just makes the motives of the Biden administration quite obvious when a policy proposal like this is made. Senator Britt went on to say that policies like this only incentivize people to illegally enter the United States, also calling out the millions that have been spent to store the border wall materials instead of finishing it to make the border more secure.
In addition to the reduction in beds, the administration is also reportedly aiming to decrease the number of deportations. While ICE aimed to deport over 150,000 in 2020, the aims for 2023 and 2024 are a little under 30,000, Fox News reported. The Biden administration has widely utilized many different Alternatives to Detention (ATDs), such as ankle bracelets and phone tracking, but authorities are also reportedly planning to reduce the use of these methods. Thomas Homan, who was the acting Director of ICE, was reported by Fox News saying that “they want to be less effective and they want to remove less people,” adding that there is simply no other explanation for the decisions. ICE defended the new policy proposals, claiming that they will still be able to perform their duties, but Homan maintains that this would be impossible if the capacity to house illegal migrants is lowered.
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