Goodlatte: Administration’s Anti-Detention Policy Ensures Continuation of Border Crisis

Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) issued the following statement on the announcement that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will no longer detain families who illegally enter the United States. This policy shift comes on the heels of new statistics from the Department of Justice Executive Office of Immigration Review showing that 90% of unlawful immigrants with children who are not detained and with removal orders failed to appear for their court date.

“The ongoing surge of Central American families and children arriving at our border is a crisis of President Obama’s own making and today’s announcement from the Department of Homeland Security only encourages more children and families to make the dangerous journey to the United States. The Obama Administration’s failure to detain recent border crossers and those responsible for the surge is outrageous, especially in light of new information showing that the vast majority of unlawful immigrants and their children who are released into the U.S. and have removal orders never show up for their court date. By refusing to detain unlawful immigrants until their claims are proven legitimate, the Obama Administration is practically guaranteeing that they will disappear into our communities and never be removed from the United States.

“The best way to deter illegal immigration is to enforce our laws in the interior of the United States and detain those who illegally cross our borders while their cases are pending. However, the Obama Administration refuses to take the actions necessary to end the crisis at our southern border and instead continues to take steps in the opposite direction that only encourage more to come.”

Background: Earlier this year, the House Judiciary Committee approved the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act (H.R. 1153), which ends catch and release and requires unlawful immigrants to be detained.