Exclusive | Trumps Border Patrol chief reveals staggeringly low number of migrants released into US under his watch
The days of catch and release at the border are over.Border Patrol agents manning the southern border have released just two migrants into the US since President Trump’s Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks took the reins, the new head honcho revealed to The Post.“The days of an open border are done,” Banks, a longtime former border agent himself and Texas’s former border czar, declared Friday.He assumed the role, serving as the federal agency’s 27th head, on Jan.22.“The United States Border Patrol is just getting started.
We will not accept anything other thancomplete operational control over our border,” the chief added.The two migrants released into the country were witnesses in criminal cases, Banks said, assuring that they “were fully vetted” and considered “a benefit to the government.”The chief, however, could not divulge where the migrants came from or what the criminal cases were.The staggeringly small figure is in stark contrast to the thousands of migrants released into the US per day under the Biden administration — which Banks credits to the abolishment of the problematic “catch and release” policy, rolling back the controversial CBP One app, and the increased assistance from other federal agencies, including the Pentagon.“Catch and release” refers to the practice of setting migrants free in the US while they await their immigration hearings.Under an edict by President Trump, they are now taken into custody until they can be deported.The tough-on-immigration commander in chief also rolled back a Biden-era expansion of the CBP One app, which allowed migrants to easily schedule asylum appointments at a port of entry along the border.“With the exception of those two, the United States Border Patrol is not gonna release anyone,” Banks said.“We are gonna process them appropriately.
We’re either gonna get them to ICE or we’re gonna get them on a flight back to their country, depending on what they’re amenable to.”Mean...