On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Ana Cabrera Reports,” former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson reacted to an NBC report that the Biden administration is planning to release migrants without court dates by stating that the move is “not good,” and “If we’re releasing people without giving them NTAs and without tracking them, that’s a big problem.”
Host Ana Cabrera asked, “So, we’ve learned of this memo instructing CBP to begin releasing migrants into the country without court dates. Now, of course, Republicans will point to that and say, look, catch and release. Do you support this move?”
Johnson answered, “That’s not good, because, even when the numbers are high, we should — ICE should be able to give a migrant a notice to appear at a specific date and a specific place so that we can track them and they have an expectation that they have to show up for immigration court. If we’re releasing people without giving them NTAs and without tracking them, that’s a big problem. And it suggests to me that we’ve got to do a much better job at resourcing and doing our best to keep track of who’s entering our country.”
He continued, “You know, there’s — Ana, this issue is overly politicized. It’s very emotional. Frankly, I believe there’s a lot of racist rhetoric around this, but I do also believe that, in the most powerful nation on earth, the American public should have the expectation that we can track who’s entering our country, and we can, to some degree, secure our perimeter. So, this is going to take a lot of resources. Ultimately, I think we will get control of this situation once it settles down over the next days or weeks, but Secretary Mayorkas and the administration do continually need to send the message that we have our enforcement authorities now that Title 42 is gone, and if you come here illegally, we will send you back.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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