When an illegal border crosser is processed and then released, he or she typically receives a case number and a request to appear at an immigration court sometime in the future. With the huge increase in illegal crossings so far under the Biden administration, the number of pending cases has exploded, to about two million. Were each to be adjudicated properly, the backlog–even if it grew no further–would take years, even decades, to work through. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has found a solution: wholesale dismissal.
In response to orders from ICE’s principal legal adviser, Kerry Doyle, prosecutors are dropping cases by the tens of thousands, a rate that, if continued, would cut the backlog in half within a couple of years. Doyle’s directive, which went out in April, ordered prosecutors to concentrate only on those cases involving national security or a public safety threat. These restrictions drastically reduce the number of cases that need pursuing: only about 50 cases nationwide concern national security and no more than 25,000 are officially considered threats to the public safety. Having a criminal record does not automatically constitute a public safety threat, nor does being a repeat illegal border crosser, nor does having repeated DUI convictions. Being a public safety threat is a high standard to meet in Bidenworld.
Under the new orders, prosecutors have had a field day closing cases. In just the ensuing two months, between 60,000 and 80,000 cases have been closed. Nearly 100,000 have been dropped since the beginning of the fiscal year in October.
When an immigration case is dropped, the once-illegal alien is essentially home free. With no court proceedings pending, he can apply for permanent residency and within a few years be naturalized as an American citizen. His stroll across the border has paid off; a new American has been created. Let the chain migration begin.
If this sounds all too familiar, you’re right. One prosecutor, speaking anonymously to the Washington Examiner, put it simply and precisely, “This is a de facto amnesty.” [Emphasis added.]
The process is illegal, of course. Laws were passed to prevent this kind of thing, but in today’s America officials pick and choose the laws they want to enforce. And the last thing this administration wants is to stand in the way of the migrants.
For more, see the Washington Examiner.