No more catch-and-release at border

Posted by Frank James at 6:50 pm CDT

For years, the federal government didn’t do as much as it could’ve to diminish the flow of illegal immigrants across the U.S.’s borders.

There was the infamous catch-and-release program wherein illegal non-Mexican immigrants caught by the Border Patrol were released from custody after being given a date to appear for deportation proceedings. That was because authorities didn’t have enough detention space to hold them.

Of course, many never did reappear, and who could blame them?

Catch-and-release came under so much political pressure from proponents of stronger border enforcement that the federal government was forced to promise it would curtail the procedure completely by Sept. 30, the end of the federal government’s fiscal year.

But it actually was able to end catch-and-release earlier. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff today held a press conference to announce that the catch-and-release program had been completely transformed into catch-and-remove, weeks earlier than the stated goal.

“I am pleased to say not only did we meet that, but we exceeded that deadline,” Chertoff said at the press conference. “As of the last several weeks, we have essentially been at 100 percent catch-and-remove in our southern and northern border.”

The end of catch-and-release has had a follow-on benefit, according to Chertoff—deterrence. It appears some would-be border crossers are choosing not to cross rather than risk being caught, placed in detention, then deported, he said.

“We now see a real marked decrease in the number of non-Mexicans coming across the border as measured by our apprehensions,” Chertoff said. “And this is proof positive of the deterrent effect of this new catch-and-remove policy.”

Well maybe. A reporter at the press conference asked if it wasn't possible that illegal border crossers, who in the past had easily given up, knowing they’d eventually be released on their own recognizance now just worked harder to avoid capture.

Chertoff acknowledged that possibility, but said he was encouraged that the number of Mexican illegal border crossers had fallen too. That suggested to him that efforts to make the border less porous were working.

CHERTOFF: I certainly think it is true that under the old system there were some OTMs (other than Mexicans) who volunteered to be caught because they knew they'd be released, and that's clearly been eliminated.

And this is not meant to say job is done or even substantially done. It's meant to say we're seeing progress. We're beginning to be able to test that what we're doing is working. But this is a time to redouble our effort, not to slacken up.

In a similar vein, another reporter said to Chertoff that some people attribute the drop in apprehensions to illegal entrants making the crossing across more difficult parts of the border.

Chertoff didn’t see this as necessarily a bad thing.

CHERTOFF: Yeah. First of all, I mean, to the extent people are being pushed to areas that are more remote, that in itself is good because those are harder to cross, fewer people want to cross them, so that in itself is a positive development.

There was some suspicion at the press conference that Chertoff was making the announcement in an effort to appeal to immigration hardliners before the November election.

No, said Chertoff. This was more about letting Americans know that the additional resources the administration had asked for to secure the border was being put to effective use.

The press conference also gave Chertoff a chance to again make a plea as he has in the past for Congress to change what he views as an antiquated policy which prevents Salvadorans from being returned to the El Salvador.

A court order 20 years ago prevented such illegal immigrants from being immediately returned to that nation because of the civil war then raging there. Though the civil war ended in 1992, federal immigration authorities still must operate under the same rules.

CHERTOFF: We are currently detaining all El Salvadorians, or virtually all of them, because we now have enough beds, and we've had enough deterrent effect to significantly reduce the total number of non- Mexicans.

So once again, I appeal to Congress. Make this change in the law. Give us the ability to dissolve this court order that is tying our hands, and we will commit to continue to sustain 100 percent catch-and-remove.