Just 1% of the illegal immigrants caught and released in a special test case two years ago have actually left the U.S., according to ICE data that underscores how difficult a job the Trump administration faces in trying to unwind the Biden border surge.
The numbers come from a group of 2,572 illegal immigrants the Border Patrol caught and released in May 2023, just as the Biden administration ended the Title 42 pandemic border policy.
Thanks to a snafu, the administration defied a court’s orders in releasing the migrants and, for the past two years, has had to report on their status to U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II. The findings are stark.
All 2,572 migrants were “paroled” and then required to check in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement within 60 days to be served their official immigration court summonses, known as a Notice to Appear, which formally starts their deportation process.
But two years later, 23 of them still haven’t checked in.
And 336 — or 13% — still haven’t been served their NTAs, meaning they are roaming free without even being officially in deportation proceedings, despite having broken the law at the time of their arrival.
ICE told the judge it can only confirm that 28 of them have departed the U.S., meaning nearly 99% of them could still be here.
Another four were in detention as of early last month, when the data was compiled.
They are among hundreds of thousands of migrants paroled into the U.S. in the Biden years. The previous administration was reluctant to share data about them and their status, but the test population from the court case gives unparalleled insight into a cross-section.
Andrew “Art” Arthur, a former immigration judge and now a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, said the numbers show the hurdles President Biden left for his successors.
“This is a case study in how difficult it’s going to be,” he said. “I don’t think the American people appreciate just how big a hole the Biden administration dug for Trump and any future president. It will take over a decade to actually get all of these people.”
The 2.572 migrants in question aren’t necessarily representative of all parolees, though there’s at least some reason to think they are a best-case scenario, given Judge Wetherell’s scrutiny.
The lawsuit was brought by then-Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. She was later appointed to fill a U.S. Senate seat. The case is now being overseen by new Attorney General James Uthmeier.
His office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The legal case is still pending on appeal to a federal circuit court. Mr. Uthmeier and Homeland Security have told the appellate court they are trying to negotiate a settlement.
According to the data provided to Judge Wetherell, the migrants were about evenly divided between those who showed up as single adults and those who came as “family units” — at least one parent and one child traveling together.
Of the 2,549 migrants who have checked in, the largest single cohort — 431 of them — did so in the New York City region. Chicago was second at 255 and Boston was third at 202.
Venezuelans predominated among the migrants, with 559 — good for nearly 22% of the total. Colombians were second at 429, followed by Peru in Third at 353.
Of the 23 migrants that never checked in, nine were Venezuelan, seven were Guatemalan, two each were from Peru, El Salvador and Honduras and one was from Ecuador.
Venezuelans also predominate among the more than 300 who did check in but haven’t been served their deportation case summons, with 112. Colombia is second at 50, India is third at 22 and Mauritania is fourth at 14.
Some nationalities are particularly deficient in getting served court documents.
Out of 20 Uzbeks caught and released in the population, nine have yet to be served an NTA.
Homeland Security, in a statement to The Washington Times, said the department is evaluating the Biden parole programs and taking action.
It has already moved to shut down the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela program that brought in more than 500,000 illegal immigrants, and has issued termination notices to those in the program, telling them they need to leave unless they have managed to obtain another legal status.
The department said they face a choice: Self-deport, and get the free flight and $1,000 payment Uncle Sam is offering, or else risk deportation.
“We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right and legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return,” the department told The Times.
