Nearly 1 Million Migrants Have Entered the US Through the Biden-Harris Admin's Controversial Asylum Program, Internal Figures Show

Up to one million migrants are expected to have entered the United States under the controversial CPB One program by the time President Joe Biden leaves office, with the figure already nearing 900,000, according to internal Department of Homeland Security data obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The post Nearly 1 Million Migrants Have Entered the US Through the Biden-Harris Admin's Controversial Asylum Program, Internal Figures Show appeared first on .

2-year-old crosses border alone seeking parents in US, heartbreaking video from Texas DPS shows



The Texas Department of Public Safety shared heartbreaking videos on Sunday showing dozens of unaccompanied children who had recently crossed the southern border into the United States.

Among the group of 60 children was a 2-year-old girl who told law enforcement officers that she had journeyed alone and was hoping to be reunited with her parents in the U.S. In the video, the child clutched a piece of paper, which she extended toward the officers. Inscribed on the note was a name and phone number.

'Regardless of political views, it is unacceptable for any child to be exposed to dangerous criminal trafficking networks.'

An officer asked the child, "Did you come by yourself?"

She nodded her head in the affirmative.

"How old are you?" the officer inquired.

The child held up a couple of fingers and responded, "Two."

When asked where she was going, she replied, "With my mom and dad," who she stated were in the U.S.

The heart-wrenching video was shared by Texas DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez, who also posted two other clips showing unaccompanied minors lined up near the southern border, presumably while awaiting processing. Going down the rows, the children shared their age, country of origin, and their intended destination in the U.S.

Olivarez posted photographs of several "special interest immigrants" who appeared to arrive with the group of children.

He wrote on X, "This morning, @TxDPS encountered a group of 211 illegal immigrants in Maverick County. Among the group were 60 unaccompanied children/minors ages 2 - 17 and 6 special interest immigrants from Mali & Angola."

"This is a stark example of the precarious journey these children make from their home country & how criminal organizations traffic these children across the southern border & further into the interior," Olivarez continued. "Regardless of political views, it is unacceptable for any child to be exposed to dangerous criminal trafficking networks."

He explained that "hundreds of thousands" of children have gone missing during their journeys to the U.S., noting that "no one [is] ensuring the safety & security of these children except for the men & women who are on the frontlines daily."

"Despite the criticism over the years, the reality is that many children are exploited & trafficked, never to be heard from again," he added.

Texas DPS has rescued more than 900 children as a part of Governor Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, Olivarez said.

According to Customs and Border Protection data, more than 110,000 unaccompanied minors crossed the border in fiscal year 2024.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Deporting criminal illegal aliens from sanctuary city will 'take a lifetime,' warns NYC ICE director



Kenneth Genalo, the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's New York City field office, warned that "it would take a lifetime" to deport the criminal illegal aliens currently residing in the city.

Since the spring of 2022, over 223,000 immigrants have arrived in New York City.

'The majority of these crimes that are being committed are against ... migrant females and the migrant children.'

On Friday, Genalo told the New York Post that his regional ICE office requires "additional resources" to handle the ongoing immigration crisis.

He stated that "it would take a lifetime to clear the city of the criminals that we have," given New York City's current trajectory.

Genalo suggested that his field office, which includes 400 workers, is investigating thousands of cases per day.

"The fact is that I have to focus all of my resources on the worst of the worst, the most egregious violators. All I can tell you is we have leads that we work every day — and it's not in the hundreds," Genalo told the Post.

He noted that New York City's sanctuary policies are hindering ICE from detaining and deporting criminal illegal aliens.

Genalo expressed interest in testifying before the city council to "educate" far-left members on the dangers of the city's current policies.

"The only people they're shielding are the criminals, and they're shielding the criminals from us," he told the Post.

"The majority of these crimes that are being committed are against the most vulnerable people in the community, and that's the migrant females and the migrant children. I don't understand how they believe sanctuary policies are helping or assisting," Genalo explained.

According to ICE data, through July 21, of the roughly 7.8 million illegal aliens in the country, more than 660,000 are convicted felons or are facing pending criminal charges.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) has also previously called on the city council to roll back sanctuary policies.

"The mayor knows we need to cooperate," Genalo told the news outlet. "He sees what's going on in New York City, and he wants help from the federal government."

Meanwhile, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) slammed the Biden administration after its Customs and Border Protection announced on Tuesday that it would be reducing office hours at many ports of entry, including four along New York's northern border.

Hochul said, "While the Biden-Harris Administration has achieved measurable success in enhancing southern border security, New York is experiencing a dramatic increase in irregular crossings along our northern border."

"We need to expand enforcement at the northern border today, and I call on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reverse this decision," she added.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Trump’s win brings new hope to Border Patrol and ICE, likely averting officer exodus



Donald Trump's presidential victory last week has instilled a much-needed sense of hope among border and immigration agents.

Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers told Fox News Digital that morale within the agencies has completely turned around since Trump won. They also applauded the president-elect's decision to name Tom Homan as the incoming "border czar," noting that he is widely respected among agents.

'There are a lot of agents that had originally said that they would retire if President Trump did not win. ...They're going to hold back on their retirement because they want to serve under this administration again.'

A Massachusetts ICE officer told the news outlet, "It's a total 180. Troops are finally feeling like the sun is coming out after a very long storm."

"People are fired up to have support," the ICE officer continued. "It's amazing because we all became so numb. I don't think we realized how bad until we finally have hope again. Everyone is so happy about Homan's return."

A New York ICE officer stated that morale within the law enforcement agency is "super high, especially with the Homan news, too."

An Arizona Border Patrol agent told Fox News Digital that they are now "ecstatic to go to work," adding that morale within the CBP is "even higher than the first time he [Trump] won."

A senior ICE official told the news outlet, "I feel that people know now they will get to do the work they signed up to do and that they want to do."

"They know they can get the bad guys now. Public safety threats, national security threats, gang members, here we come," the official said.

National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez also confirmed the uptick in agents' enthusiasm, stating that "morale is through the roof."

"We've received hundreds of calls, texts, emails just saying how happy the agents are," Perez stated.

Just last month, several CBP agents warned about a potential staffing crisis in the event that Vice President Kamala Harris won the November presidential election, Blaze News previously reported. They told the New York Post that many officers would likely opt to retire, with one agent calling the last four years under the Biden-Harris administration's leadership "hell."

One Border Patrol officer told the Post, "Lots of guys who can retire will go. If Trump wins, they'll stay."

Perez explained that many of the agents who had planned to retire have decided to remain since Trump's win.

He said, "There are a lot of agents that had originally said that they would retire if President Trump did not win. And now those same agents are saying they're going to hold back on their retirement because they want to serve under this administration again, because they know exactly how it was during this first administration, and they know this one's going to be even better."

A Texas border agent repeated similar remarks to Fox News Digital, stating, "People who were going to retire are not and everyone is happy."

However, a California Border Patrol officer told the news outlet that agents are "hopeful but the give-ups are still trickling in."

"Nothing will change until Tom Homan takes the leash off us," the officer remarked.

Trump has vowed to "strengthen ICE" by "increas[ing] penalties for illegal entry and overstaying Visas, and reinstat[ing] 'Remain in Mexico' and other Policies that helped reduce Illegal Immigration by historic lows in President Trump's first term."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Blaze News original: Border Patrol whistleblower's career on the line after spotlighting trafficking horrors



Border Patrol Agent Zachary Apotheker faces an ongoing internal investigation that could potentially lead to his termination after he publicly expressed concerns about how open-border policies are fueling the illegal child trafficking crisis in the nation.

Apotheker started his Border Patrol career at the southern border and moved to the northern border's Swanton Sector last year.

Since sharing his concerns during podcast appearances and interviews with media outlets, he says that Customs and Border Protection has retaliated against him despite whistleblower protection laws.

Apotheker has warned that there are "many ways to beat the [immigration] system" as it currently exists. His biggest concern is the disturbing increase in child trafficking.

'I'm assuming they're going to move to terminate me.'

He noted that the Border Patrol's ability to look into the criminal background of foreign nationals crossing the border is limited.

"We don't have their criminal history," Apotheker told Blaze News.

"The adults may not show up with documents, but then the children may not show up with documents, or maybe false documents. So we're just taking their word that this child is now this person's child — that's their biological parents," he said. "We don't even know if the adult that they're with is a criminal."

"We really can't definitively say, and we can't track them," he continued. "Now, imagine if they're unaccompanied [minors]."

"We're just sending them somewhere, so maybe a relative's house. How do we even know that it's the relative's house? And then who's following up on it?" he questioned.

In early September, Apotheker appeared for an interview on the "Fresh&Fit Podcast," where he shared how illegal immigrants exploit the current border policies to traffic humans and drugs into the United States.

Shortly after the podcast's release, he received a cease-and-desist letter from Customs and Border Protection.

Around the same time, Apotheker was also featured in James O'Keefe's documentary, "Line in the Sand," where he spoke out about child trafficking.

In the film, Apotheker mentioned the horrific slaying of 22-year-old Laken Riley, a University of Georgia nursing student, who was murdered while jogging near campus. The man charged with Riley's murder is a 26-year-old Venezuelan national who was in the U.S. illegally and is a suspected member of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua.

Apotheker told O'Keefe, "When a girl like Laken Riley is jogging, she's top of her class at nursing, and we sign those f***ing files, man, that's blood on our hands."

"If it was your mother or your sister or your aunt, how would you feel?"

He told Blaze News that CBP questioned him about his appearance in the documentary film.

Apotheker responded to CBP officials, writing, "I participated in Line in the Sand Film on duty in uniform, as did many other Border Patrol Agents."

In the film, several other Border Patrol officers spoke with O'Keefe while on duty.

He also added that he provided "no CBP information to any non-CBP employee" and gave "zero information that is not public."

Apotheker noted that the "only compensation" he received for participating in the film "was a free, clean, and clear" conscience.

"I told the truth to the American Public and fulfilled my duty to the Constitution of the United States of America," he wrote.

In his letter to CBP officials, Apotheker highlighted that the Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged that over 300,000 children are missing. He further pointed out that CBP's failure to collect biometric data on children makes correctly identifying them "effectively impossible."

According to the Department of Homeland Security, "As the regulations currently exempt certain aliens from the collection of biometrics, including those under 14 and over 79, as well as individuals in certain visa classes, CBP does not use fingerprints to confirm the traveler's identity in these cases."

Apotheker told Blaze News that the agency stripped him of his government-issued firearm the same week he responded to the questioning.

'It's like these little mind game tricks. ... They found a way to do what you can't prove.'

On October 11, he received a memo from a CBP division chief informing him that he is "currently under investigation ... for allegations related to serious breaches of integrity and/or security policies."

The agency's memo explained that it was "in the best interest of CBP to temporarily revoke your authority to carry a Government-issued firearm." However, it claimed that the firearm revocation was "not a disciplinary action."

Without a firearm, Apotheker was taken out of the field and instructed to report to work "in business casual attire."

The memo was signed with an indecipherable handwritten signature belonging to a Swanton Sector division chief. No corresponding printed name to identify the individual was listed.

Image Source: Zachary Apotheker

Apotheker told Blaze News, "They pulled my gun, which takes me out of the field. I can't do my job."

"It's kind of rare for them to take your gun for no other reason and say it wasn't disciplinary but not take your law enforcement credentials," he added.

Soon after receiving the memo, Apotheker was served another notice, this one compelling his sworn testimony on October 17 before a Department of Homeland Security special agent.

Apotheker was informed that he would be questioned about his "general misconduct/disruptive behavior."

He attended the compelled administrative hearing but was advised by his legal representation not to answer any questions.

"I feel I've done nothing wrong," Apotheker stated. He acknowledged that wearing his Border Patrol uniform during the podcast appearance breached the agency's policy. However, he explained that he only did so after filing a whistleblower report through the DHS' Office of Inspector General and speaking to a member of Congress, and "nothing was done."

"I used discretion," he said. "The country needs to be made aware of this."

He explained that his legal counsel, obtained through the Citizenship Journalism Foundation, instructed him not to participate in the CBP's "retaliatory investigation."

"We just didn't want to legitimize that meeting," he told Blaze News. "I don't feel like I should be being investigated. If anything, I feel like they should be asking me what I know and how to resolve it."

The day after the hearing, Apotheker received a notice informing him that his law enforcement authority had been revoked, citing his "fail[ure] to respond to questions asked of you during an administrative interview conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Professional Responsibility."

"Your refusal to participate in a compelled interview called into question your ability to perform the law enforcement functions of your positions as a Border Patrol Agent," the memo read.

Apotheker was required to hand in the rest of his Border Patrol gear, including his badge, body armor, and radio.

"Consequently, you will be placed on administrative duties immediately," the memo continued. "Your access to the building and computer systems will be modified to limit your accessibility only to those areas necessary to perform your assigned administrative duties. Since you will not be performing law enforcement duties, you are not to wear your uniform and will adhere to business casual dress code standards."

Again, the memo mentioned, "Please note that this is not a disciplinary action, but is necessary, given the nature of the allegation(s) against you, in order to preserve the trust of the public we serve."

The memo contained the same division chief's signature and, again, no printed name.

Image Source: Zachary Apotheker

Apotheker told Blaze News that the agency changed his schedule and significantly cut his hours.

"Not only did they cut my overtime, which is a big amount of money, but from switching me from nights to mornings, what they're basically trying to do is apply financial pressure to me because you get a 10% night differential for every hour after 6 p.m.," he said.

Apotheker stated that his pay was slashed by at least $25,000-$35,000 with "all the tricks they did." He feels the changes were "100% retaliatory," despite the agency's insistence otherwise.

"They would do everything they could to make it more difficult for me," he said.

'We're gonna battle this out.'

Apotheker recounted that even before his equipment was confiscated and his law enforcement powers were stripped, his superiors seemed to go out of their way to make his time at work more challenging, including stationing him in the most remote areas of the sector. After driving for hours to reach his assignment, he would soon be summoned back for last-minute meetings, he said.

"They'd send me out to the furthest part of our area. I drive out there for two hours, they call me back. Now, it happened consistently," he said. "Every day, I knew that I was gonna get called over the radio to come in for another meeting where they could have just had the meeting then and there."

"It's like these little mind game tricks," Apotheker added. "They found a way to do what you can't prove."

He explained that before he left the southern border and relocated to the Swanton Sector, he "was known as someone that was not happy with what was going on in Arizona."

"And when I came up here, I felt like that followed me — that I was a person with a reputation that would speak out against what's going on instead of just doing it and shutting up," Apotheker added.

He stated he got the impression that his leadership "wanted to make it known to me that that wasn't going to be tolerated up here."

Apotheker told Blaze News that Border Patrol Agents have "worked harder on the northern border than we have down south because, per capita, we have less agents to do so much work."

"We have a lot of drive-throughs up here, which means people will physically take a vehicle and drive from Canada into America, which should be a massive crime. You're not just crossing; now you're taking a vehicle across. You're driving past an international boundary," he explained. "If it's a family, sometimes they've taken us on chases."

The Swanton Sector is the most heavily trafficked northern border section, covering 24,000 square miles.

In October, Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia announced, "Border Patrol Agents in Swanton Sector have apprehended more than 19,222 subjects from 97 different countries since October 1, 2023, which is more than its last 17 fiscal years combined."

Apotheker is concerned that the CBP's internal investigation will ultimately result in his firing.

When asked what is next for him, Apotheker told Blaze News, "We're gonna battle this out."

"I'm assuming they're going to move to terminate me," he continued, but he noted that "there's a lot of different things that could happen."

"I don't want it to be about me," Apotheker added. "I want it to be about what's going on the last three and a half years, which everybody knows, and I want to expose the people that are trying to remove me for telling the truth. And that's my goal is that I'm not going to give in."

Neither CBP nor DHS-OIG responded to Blaze News' requests for comment.

Taxpayer funds wasted on DHS outreach campaign to help illegal immigrants



The Biden-Harris administration's Department of Homeland Security has squandered taxpayer funds to erect billboards in Texas offering legal assistance to detained illegal immigrants.

A DHS source tipped off Fox News Digital about the billboards last week.

One of the advertisements read, "Your brother in immigration custody has rights."

"We're here to help," it adds.

The ads were created by the DHS' Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, an independent office that "assists individuals with complaints about the potential violation of immigration detention standards or other misconduct by DHS (or contract) personnel." The office also oversees immigration detention facilities.

'Congress should NOT be funding propaganda to undermine our own laws.'

The DHS' decision to put up the billboards sparked outrage within the department's agencies, according to Fox News Digital.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers told the news outlet they are furious.

Fox News Digital journalist Bill Melugin stated, "Multiple DHS contacts I've talked to, including in ICE & Border Patrol, are outraged about the billboards, telling me their agencies are already working with limited funding/resources, and DHS is spending money on billboards that they feel work against them."

An ICE source called the ads "more than insulting."

A Border Patrol agent told Melugin, "This is so wrong."

When Fox News Digital reached out for comment, DHS responded with "a history lesson about the ombudsman office" but did not answer any questions.

"DHS and its employees provide the highest standard of care for individuals who are detained in its custody," the DHS stated.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) called the DHS' outreach campaign "insane."

"The news that DHS is using taxpayer money to launch billboards advocating 'rights' for individuals in 'immigration custody' should be alarming because it's a preview of the legal arguments that radical progressive democrats will use to argue against deportation of the millions dumped in America by Biden-Harris-Mayorkas," Roy stated. "Congress should NOT be funding propaganda to undermine our own laws. That's insane."

"Americans should not PAY for free legal advice to foreign criminals," Roy declared.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) said, "Whether it's FEMA splurging hundreds of millions of dollars on migrant housing or OIDO running ads like this, our government is hemorrhaging money on the wrong priorities."

"It's time for Congress to pull the plug on programs like these," he added.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Blaze News original: While Biden-Harris cheer southern border 'victories', a migrant invasion from Canada grows



The Biden-Harris administration, in an attempt to deflect blame for the unprecedented immigration crisis it has created and overseen for the past several years, frequently highlights the reduced number of crossings at the southern border. Meanwhile, both the administration and Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign seem to deliberately ignore the escalating situation at the U.S.-Canadian border.

A closer look at the northern numbers

Customs and Border Protection data reveals that the northern border experienced just over 27,000 encounters in fiscal year 2021. By 2024, this number had surged by 637%, reaching nearly 199,000 encounters.

The Swanton Sector, covering 24,000 square miles and including Vermont, along with several counties in New York and New Hampshire, has become by far the most heavily trafficked section of the U.S.-Canadian border.

In fiscal year 2024, Border Patrol agents manning the Swanton Sector encountered more than 19,000 individuals. For comparison, the next busiest northern sector, Blaine — which services Alaska, Oregon, and half of Washington — reported fewer than 2,500 encounters over the same period.

While the number of encounters impacting the northern border's most heavily trafficked sector may appear inconsequential compared to the staggering reports from its southern border counterparts, the stats reveal a terrifying trend.

Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia stated in an early October post on X, "Border Patrol Agents in Swanton Sector have apprehended more than 19,222 subjects from 97 different countries since October 1, 2023, which is more than its last 17 fiscal years combined."

Executive order fallacy: Statistical smoke and mirrors

Despite this alarming data, the Biden-Harris administration continues to boast about reductions in southern border encounters. Yet these slightly lower figures remain astronomically high compared to those under previous administrations.

The administration's numerous so-called "lawful pathways" have hidden the true extent of the immigration crisis. While the number of illegal crossings — defined as individuals attempting to cross the border between ports of entry — has decreased, the overall number of foreign nationals entering the country has been skyrocketing under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' leadership.

The current administration has repeatedly credited Biden's June executive order, 89 FR 48487 — Securing the Border, for the reduction in illegal crossings over the second half of 2024. From June to September, encounters at the southern border dropped roughly 22%.

‘We still are giving those families that are crossing with their vehicle Notice to Appears, and they took us on the chase.’

The administration claims that the executive action grants the federal government the authority to shut down the border once daily encounters reach 2,500 for seven consecutive days.

However, it includes numerous exceptions, such as expediting the entry process for foreign nationals who used Customs and Border Protection's CBP One application to schedule an appointment at a port of entry to request asylum.

Moreover, the executive order applies exclusively to the southern border and therefore has no effect on reducing the escalating encounters at the northern border.

Border Patrol agent reveals northern border chaos

Zachary Apotheker, a Border Patrol agent who was previously stationed at the southern border before transferring to the Swanton Sector, told Blaze News, "We're very slammed up here."

"I've actually worked harder on the northern border than we have down south because, per capita, we have less agents to do so much work," he said.

"We have a lot of drive-throughs up here, which means people will physically take a vehicle and drive from Canada into America, which should be a massive crime. You're not just crossing; now you're taking a vehicle across. You're driving past an international boundary," Apotheker explained. "If it's a family, sometimes they've taken us on chases."

Apotheker recounted an incident in which a vehicle sped past him at 70 miles per hour on a dirt road, driving through the international boundary. He started to pursue but was called off the chase.

"Later on, someone found the vehicle. It was a family," Apotheker continued. "We still are giving those families that are crossing with their vehicle Notice to Appears, and they took us on the chase. And that's happened more than once."

A Notice to Appear, or Form I-862, is given to noncitizens entering the country, instructing them to appear before an immigration judge. Although United States Citizenship and Immigration Services states that this document is "the first step in starting removal proceedings against" the individual, the overwhelmed immigration system means noncitizens receive court dates years in the future, effectively allowing them to stay in the U.S. until their court date.

‘Detaining all individuals without identification … may hamper DHS' ability to prioritize detention for individuals identified as a possible national security or public safety risk.’

Apotheker told Blaze News, "And the kicker is, if they bring a rental, we tow the rental to the yard. We don't seize rental vehicles. We tow the rental vehicle. They go back after we release them into the country, and they get the rental back."

He stated that those illegally crossing the border are "looking at us as a joke."

"There's no incentive to stop," he said. "We have the legal authority to do our job and punish these people, but we're not allowed to do so."

"It's just a game to them," he added, referring to the illegal border crossers.

Terror watch-list encounters

The Department of Homeland Security's 2025 Homeland Threat Assessment, published in early October, acknowledged that northern border encounters "continue to increase."

Through July of fiscal year 2024, CBP reported 283 individuals on the terrorist watch list who attempted to enter the U.S. via the northern border, according to the report. This number was slightly down from the 375 encounters in the previous year over the same time frame.

"In contrast to the U.S.-Mexico border, many watch-list encounters along the U.S.-Canada border occur at ports of entry, and the vast majority of these individuals have legal status in Canada," the DHS report read.

The agency anticipates that terrorists "will continue their efforts to exploit migration flows and the complex border security environment to enter the United States."

The DHS' assessment omitted mention of concerning findings from a September DHS Office of Inspector General report, which discovered that agencies, including CBP, had released noncitizens into the U.S. without identification. When individuals fail to provide identification, it is more challenging for federal officials to determine whether they are on the terrorist watch list.

‘There is also no consistency on what documentation they are saying young people need.’

"If noncitizens do not have identification such as an unexpired visa, unexpired passport, re-entry permit, border crossing identification card, or document of identity and nationality, immigration officers may deny their admission and subject them to removal from the United States without further hearing or review," the IG report explained. "However, if noncitizens without identification indicate they either intend to apply for asylum or express a fear of persecution in their home country, an immigration officer will refer them for a credible fear interview. If asylum officers determine those claims are credible, these noncitizens may be released into the country to await further hearings or reviews of their claims to admission."

The report concluded that neither CBP nor Immigration and Customs Enforcement "could determine how many of the millions of noncitizens seeking entry in the United States each year entered without identification and whose self-reported biographic information was accepted."

These federal law enforcement agencies are not required to record how many noncitizens present identification documents.

The OIG provided the DHS with three recommendations as part of the report's findings. The DHS rejected all three.

One of the recommendations, directed at CBP, advised the agency to "conduct a comprehensive analysis of the risks associated with releasing noncitizens into the country without identification and develop and implement policies and procedures to mitigate those risks."

The DHS responded with a non-concurrence, arguing, "Although CBP acknowledges the broad intent of the recommendation, mitigating potential risks associated with releasing noncitizens into the country without identification requires broadly detaining noncitizens, including those noncitizens lacking documentation, for a time exceeding 'short-term' detention. … Further, detaining all individuals without identification would seriously risk DHS exceeding its detention capacity, and may hamper DHS' ability to prioritize detention for individuals identified as a possible national security or public safety risk."

To this, the OIG countered that without the ability to confirm an individual's identity, CBP "faces challenges in identifying noncitizens who pose a national security or public safety risk."

Trusting words over evidence

"We're taking people's word," Apotheker told Blaze News. "The adults may not show up with documents, but then the children may not show up with documents, or maybe false documents. So we're just taking their word that this child is now this person's child."

"We really can't definitely say, and we can't track them," he continued. "A lot of these countries, we don't have their criminal history."

‘If we do give them an expedited removal … they still may be granted asylum.’

Apotheker detailed that while adults crossing the border undergo fingerprinting, iris scans, and DNA swabs and are photographed, such biometric data is not gathered for children under 14 years old.

Unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. are handed over to the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, which seeks to place these children with sponsors in the U.S.

"Maybe a relative's house. How do we even know that it's the relative's house, and then who's following up on it?" Apotheker questioned.

Records released in October revealed that nearly 7,000 unaccompanied children arrive in New York City each year, the New York Post reported. During a city council hearing, experts noted a 60% rise in unaccompanied minors in the city over the last four years.

Jamie Powlovich, a supervisor at the Coalition for the Homeless, informed city lawmakers, "We've also seen young people whose passports were falsified so that they could flee."

"But all their other documents or certificates from their home country to indicate that they are in fact minors and then [the city Administration for Children's Services] does not take them," Powlovich said. "There is also no consistency on what documentation they are saying young people need."

The credible fear loophole and asylum case outcomes

In some circumstances, single adults crossing the border are subject to "expedited removal," a process intended to swiftly remove them from the country. Apotheker indicated that is not always the case.

"We allow them a credible fear hearing, which is up to an asylum officer to clear," he told Blaze News. "If we do give them an expedited removal, we're going to hold them or have them at a holding facility up until the point they have a credible fear hearing. And they still may be granted asylum."

According to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, if a foreign national "indicate[s] an intention to apply for asylum, express[es] a fear of persecution or torture, or express[es] a fear of return to your country," he "must be referred to an asylum officer for an interview to determine whether you have a credible fear of persecution or torture."

Recent data from USCIS, spanning October 2023 to October 15, 2024, shows that out of over 170,000 credible fear cases, fear was not established in approximately 32% of them.

Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse found that in fiscal year 2024, immigration judges denied asylum in 56% of the cases, granted it in 42%, and provided another form of relief in just 2% of cases.

Immigration courts are grappling with a backlog exceeding 1.1 million asylum cases in fiscal year 2024, with foreign nationals waiting more than 1,400 days — almost four years — before their asylum hearing dates.

While many of the Biden-Harris administration's destructive policies that have led to the open-border crisis can quickly be reversed by a new administration committed to national security, the enormous backlog in immigration courts will likely pose significant challenges well beyond Biden's tenure in the White House.

CBP did not respond to a request for comment.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Blaze News original: Biden-Harris immigration policy shell game — more 'lawful pathways' and less enforcement



One of the first orders of business for President Joe Biden (D) when he took office was to immediately undo former President Donald Trump's immigration policies, which included halting construction of the border wall. In fact, within his first year, Biden took nearly 300 immigration-related executive actions that have ultimately led to the nation's current unprecedented immigration crisis.

Perhaps even more damaging than leaving the nation's doors open to illegal immigration, Biden, along with his vice president and now the Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, spent the past three and a half years using the administration's executive powers to circumvent Congress and rapidly expand "lawful pathways," including parole programs, Temporary Protected Status, and the CBP One app.

The Biden-Harris administration has rolled out these executive actions under the guise of curbing illegal crossings by incentivizing foreign nationals to pursue so-called legal routes instead. However, while their measures may have slightly reduced southern border encounter numbers in recent months, they have ramped up questionably legal immigration nationwide.

As far as the current administration is concerned, these expanded immigration pathways have granted millions of foreign nationals legal status in the U.S.

However, with election season in full swing and immigration a top concern for a vast number of voters, the Biden-Harris turned Harris-Walz campaign is attempting to appear more moderate on immigration issues and distancing itself from its self-inflicted crisis by, among other things, touting its lowered border encounter stats while glossing over how its expanded pathways have allowed millions of lightly vetted foreign nationals to enter the country.

Background on pathway expansion

Until May 2023, Title 42 allowed the federal government to quickly expel illegal immigrants who had recently been in a country where COVID-19 was present. With the expulsion program set to end, the administration anticipated a significant spike in border crossings. As a way to mitigate that increase and "discourage irregular migration," the Biden-Harris administration's Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice issued "a final rule to incentivize the use of lawful pathways."

The administration sold its expanded pathways firstly as a "lawful" process that encouraged "safe" and "orderly" immigration into the U.S.

With the number of illegal border crossings over the first three years of Biden's presidency exceeding nine million, the expanded pathway measures provided ways for the administration to continue allowing foreign nationals to enter the country in large numbers while potentially reducing eye-popping encounter stats at the southwest border.

'CHNV program, which allows inadmissible Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to fly in.'

In the summer of 2023, the Biden-Harris administration listed the ways it planned to increase so-called legal migration, including by "establishing country-specific and other available processes to seek parole for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit; expanding opportunities to enter for seasonal employment; putting in place a mechanism for migrants to schedule a time and place to arrive in a safe, orderly, and lawful manner at ports of entry via use of the CBP One mobile app; and expanding refugee processing in the Western Hemisphere."

Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, told Blaze News, "The most consequential, and unlawful, 'lawful pathway' used by the Biden administration has been the use of parole to allow about 5 million inadmissible migrants into the country who would not otherwise qualify either for asylum or a legal visa."

She noted that the administration's pathways have "taken several forms," including "catch-and-release at the border, the CBP One app to enable unqualified people from anywhere in the world to make an appointment to cross the border, and the CHNV program, which allows inadmissible Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to fly in and settle where ever they like, and in the case of the Cubans and Haitians, immediately apply for welfare programs and enroll their kids in public schools at taxpayer expense."

CBP One mobile app

The Biden-Harris administration has significantly expanded Customs and Border Protection's CBP One application, which allows foreign nationals located in certain parts of Mexico to schedule an appointment at a port of entry to make an asylum claim. The catch-and-release policies under the current administration mean that applicants undergo a quick and abbreviated vetting process before they are released into the interior of the U.S. and provided with years-out court dates to later review the legitimacy of their asylum claims.

Under the Biden-Harris leadership, the mobile app has expanded eligibility territory, allowing foreign nationals to apply from Northern, Central, and some parts of Southern Mexico, thereby incentivizing individuals worldwide to travel to Mexico to schedule an appointment. CBP schedules 1,450 appointments per day.

A recent report from the DHS' Office of Inspector General revealed that the application lacks some capabilities to assist with vetting foreign nationals.

The application's limited vetting ability, coupled with overwhelmed federal immigration agents at the border forced to expedite the release of those requesting asylum, has allowed gang members and criminals to enter the country.

In just one recent example, two young men suspected to be members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were recently busted in Aurora, Colorado, for alleged ties to a shooting. According to reports, the men used the CBP One app to enter the U.S. in August.

The CHNV pathway

The administration's CHNV program allows 30,000 individuals per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to immigrate to the U.S. and receive a two-year work permit. It is worth noting that CHNV beneficiaries are being flown into the U.S. not necessarily from their country of origin. In fact, the CIS discovered that individuals have been flown from 77 countries into 45 international U.S. airports.

In recent weeks, the program has stirred up a firestorm of controversy after a report by the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate uncovered fraud among sponsors' applications. Foreign national beneficiaries must have a U.S.-based sponsor, also called a supporter — individual or entity — to be eligible for the program.

'The president and his border czar play a massive shell game.'

Those currently in the country on Temporary Protected Status or asylum can serve as supporters to CHNV beneficiaries, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services' website. In other words, beneficiaries do not require an American citizen sponsor to enter the country through this program, leaving it vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

The report found that some supporters had used the same Social Security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers hundreds of times. Additionally, approximately 3,000 sponsors had filed more than 100,000 forms. Some of those forms included phone numbers belonging to deceased individuals, addresses of storage units, and fake zip codes.

While news of the discovered fraud did not break until early August, the DHS reportedly paused the CHNV program in mid-July while investigating the findings.

Roughly a month and a half later, the Biden-Harris administration announced that it was rebooting the program, with the DHS claiming that it would conduct "additional vetting" of sponsors moving forward.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) urged the federal government to end the "clearly flawed" and "unlawful" program.

"The CHNV program, along with the use of the CBP One app at the Southwest border, has helped the president and his border czar play a massive shell game, encouraging otherwise inadmissible aliens to simply cross at ports of entry instead of between them," he stated following the administration's announcement.

A group of senators led by Ted Cruz (R-Texas) recently penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also calling for the program's termination.

Cruz accused the DHS of continuing the program after implementing "stop-gap marginal improvements" that would not "solve the fundamental fraud, failure, and illegality of the CHNV program."

"This fundamentally flawed program must be permanently dismantled. The program has not only facilitated widespread fraud, but has also exposed serious vulnerabilities in our immigration system, leading to dire consequences for public safety. The tragic sexual assault and murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray by two Venezuelan illegal aliens indicates the dangers posed by the Biden-Harris administration's immigration policies," Cruz wrote in the letter.

The senators linked the CHNV program and the administration's expansion of TPS for Venezuelans to the "troubling rise in crime" and the increased presence of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang now operating in some areas of the U.S.

Furthermore, they accused the Biden-Harris administration of "creat[ing] a parallel immigration system without congressional approval."

'Keeping Families Together' program

In addition to implementing more pathways for foreign nationals to enter the U.S., the Biden-Harris administration has also promoted mass amnesty processes for those already in the country seeking permanent legal status.

The DHS announced the "Keeping Families Together" program in mid-August, calling it "a step toward ... Biden's commitment to promoting family unity in the immigration system."

If permitted to move forward, it would allow some illegal immigrants to "request parole in place under existing statutory authority." Those eligible for the program include spouses and stepchildren of American citizens. Spousal applicants must have lived in the U.S. since June 2014 and have been married to a citizen since June 2024. Stepchildren applicants must be under 21 years old and unmarried, have resided in the country since June 2024, and have an illegal alien parent married to a citizen.

'The Biden-Harris-Mayorkas schemes were deliberately created to circumvent the immigration laws.'

As part of the program, eligible individuals would be granted parole in place, allowing them to remain in the country while they request an adjustment of status.

USCIS' website states, "If granted parole, and if otherwise eligible, these noncitizens may apply for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident without being required to leave the United States and be processed by a U.S. consulate overseas."

"DHS estimates that 500,000 noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens could be eligible to access Keeping Families Together; on average, these noncitizens have resided in the United States for 23 years," it continues. "In addition, approximately 50,000 noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens are estimated to be eligible to seek parole under Keeping Families Together."

Critics have called it a mass amnesty program.

Shortly after it was announced, 16 Republican-led states filed a lawsuit against the Biden-Harris administration to prevent the program from moving forward. The complaint claimed that the administration's estimate that it would extend legal status to up to 550,000 illegal aliens is "likely a significant underestimate," arguing that the number could be as high as 1.3 million.

The lawsuit, filed in partnership with America First Legal, read, "DHS has announced the creation of a program that effectively provides a new pathway to a green card and eventual citizenship ... to circumvent the process established by Congress to apply for permanent residency."

It stated, "This action incentivizes illegal immigration and will irreparably harm the Plaintiff States," which included Texas, Idaho, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

In response to the suit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted a stay order, preventing the federal government from implementing the program at least until September 23 while the case is pending.

USCIS noted that it is still accepting applications for its "Keeping Families Together" program, including scheduling biometric appointments for applicants, but it is not currently granting any parole-in-place requests due to the ongoing lawsuit.

Final thoughts

The most troubling aspect of the Biden-Harris administration's open-borders policies has been the limited vetting processes that have allowed criminals from all over the world to slip into the country.

"Besides the huge expense to taxpayers, there is a human cost as well, as some of these individuals are violent gang members, deviants, and human traffickers, and they have caused incalculable harm in a number of communities around the country, from New York City to Aurora, Colorado, to Springfield, Ohio, to Nashville, Tennessee," Vaughan told Blaze News.

Despite the federal government's claims that every foreign national granted asylum or other form of parole has been thoroughly vetted, law enforcement officials' ability to access an individual's criminal background is extremely limited.

Immigration officials tasked with performing background checks on foreign nationals making asylum claims at the border are limited to U.S.-based background checks and Interpol.

Vaughan explained, "There is no meaningful vetting process. The only vetting that the immigration officers can do is to check if the migrant has a record here in the United States, and most of them have never been here before. We have next to no information on their background."

Vaughan confirmed to Blaze News that potential lawsuits against the administration's expanded pathways could have legal standing.

"The Biden-Harris-Mayorkas schemes were deliberately created to circumvent the immigration laws as Congress wrote them, and especially the numerical limits," she said. "The law explicitly prohibits using parole to allow defined categories of migrants to enter without a visa or after crossing illegally; it is permissible only on a case-by-case individual basis and only if it can be justified as a significant public benefit."

The administration's expanded pathways and asylum programs refer to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5), which states that the attorney general may "parole" a foreign national into the country "temporarily" but "only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit." However, it notes, "Such parole of such alien shall not be regarded as an admission of the alien and when the purposes of such parole shall, in the opinion of the Attorney General, have been served the alien shall forthwith return or be returned to the custody from which he was paroled and thereafter his case shall continue to be dealt with in the same manner as that of any other applicant for admission to the United States."

Vaughan noted, "A lot of people are asking what possible public benefit has come from these policies, especially the families of people harmed by illegal migrants, or taxpayers seeing their hard-earned money spent on hotel rooms, Uber rides, pizza dinners, health care, schooling, and sometimes prosecution and incarceration of people who have no interest and no prospect of contributing to their community."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Biden-Harris admin hiding migrants with 'smoke and mirrors,' San Diego official tells Glenn Beck



The Biden-Harris administration’s “smoke and mirrors” border scheme has concealed the true extent of the immigration crisis amid the 2024 election season, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond revealed during a Monday interview with Glenn Beck.

Between September 2023 and June 2024, the Border Patrol released more than 155,000 foreign nationals onto the streets of San Diego County, Desmond stated.

'This isn’t about securing the border for the Feds — it’s about optics.'

Most of those individuals were dropped off at the Iris Avenue Transit Center, where they hitched a ride to their next destination deeper within the interior of the U.S. after being released by Border Patrol officials.

The Biden-Harris administration was torched for the street releases and the negative optics of using the train station as its main drop-off point for the San Diego Sector.

According to Desmond, the federal government started busing and flying immigrants to other border sectors to reduce the number of street releases in San Diego County.

“There’s about three buses a day that Border Patrol is taking migrants to Yuma, Arizona, which is right on the California-Arizona line. So about three buses per day, and they have about three or four flights per week, leaving San Diego going to Texas, primarily McAllen, Texas,” Desmond told Beck.

“It’s just smoke and mirrors. What they’re doing is they’re just taking these numbers, they’re no longer putting them on our streets, which was very in the open, and press and everything else had access to that, and they’re hiding them by busing them to Arizona or flying them to Texas,” he declared.

Desmond noted that the southern border numbers may be down over the past few months but only from “record highs.”

Border officials told Desmond that the agency planned to restart the street releases in San Diego County last Friday.

“So I think, unfortunately, we’re going to be back to the mayhem that we had in the previous months,” he told Beck. “That’s what I fear.”

He noted that, under the Biden-Harris administration, the San Diego Sector had become the number one spot for border crossings and fentanyl and “one of the top spots for human trafficking.”

Desmond also explained to Beck that several times per week boats packed with illegal aliens are running up onto the shores. The illegal immigrants then jump off the boats and flee on foot into nearby neighborhoods.

“They just abandon the boats on the beach. Those people aren’t even checked or go through Border Patrol. They’re not fingerprinted,” he stated. “That’s been happening for months.”

Desmond slammed the state’s sanctuary status, which prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials.

“The state of California is a sanctuary state, which means our local law enforcement cannot enforce immigration laws. So even these people that are getting off the boats and walking into our neighborhoods, local law enforcement can’t do a thing about it,” he continued.

“There’s very little locally anybody can do about this,” Desmond added.

In a post on X, he wrote, “Border Patrol officials have informed me that street releases were set to resume again last Friday in San Diego County, adding to the more than 155,000 in the past year. But with the election around the corner, the Federal Government was worried about the optics, so every day, they’re bussing illegal immigrants from San Diego to Yuma, Arizona, to fly them across the country.”

“This isn’t about securing the border for the Feds — it’s about optics,” he concluded.

The Border Patrol did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Imminent border rush: Thousands race toward US, hoping to cross before Trump's potential return



Several caravans, thousands-strong, are making their way through Mexico, hoping to cross the United States' border before a potential administration change with the presidential election just weeks away.

On October 5, a caravan of 600 to 800 individuals left Tapachula, Mexico, according to the Border Report. Last week, another group of 1,000 reportedly departed from the city. On Sunday, a caravan with 2,000 individuals left Mexico's southern border.

'They could both close the CBP One appointment and all the services that are helping migrants.'

Luis Garcia Villagran, director of the Tapachula-based Center for Human Dignity, told a local news outlet that he estimates that at least 4,000 people, divided into multiple caravans, are already moving through Mexico and on their way to the U.S.

"As we speak, 40,000 to 45,000 migrants, 30 percent from the Middle East and Africa, are stuck and trying to leave for the United States before the end of the year," Garcia Villagran said in a statement translated by Border Report.

Joel Zambrano, a Venezuelan national traveling with the caravan that set off over the weekend, told the New York Post that a new administration "makes us fearful."

Zambrano stated that he is concerned that after January 20, 2025, Customs and Border Protection's CBP One application will be shut down. Currently, the mobile app allows foreign nationals to schedule an appointment at a port of entry to make an asylum claim. Approximately 1.3 million people over the past two years have been allowed into the U.S. through the Biden-Harris administration's app and its other so-called "lawful pathways."

"They say this could change because they could both close the CBP One appointment and all the services that are helping migrants," Zambrano told the Post.

Trump has vowed that his top priority, should he secure the upcoming presidential election, is to "seal the border and stop the migrant invasion," according to his campaign's website. He also pledged to "carry out the largest deportation operation in American history."

With immigration a top-of-mind concern for most voters, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has also attempted to appear tough on the border crisis that the Biden-Harris administration manufactured.

During her first visit to the border, she stated, "I will do more to secure our border, to reduce illegal border crossings."

"I will take further action to keep the border closed between ports of entry," she added.

While the details of her border strategy are unclear, the Biden-Harris administration has advocated for the implementation of more so-called "lawful pathways" that have expedited entries, thereby deterring foreign nationals from illegally crossing the border between ports of entry. While these additional pathways have reportedly reduced southern border encounters, they have not reduced the number of foreign nationals entering the country with little to no vetting.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!