The Department of Homeland Security launched a new program on Tuesday to provide free case management, legal services and “cultural orientation programs” to illegal immigrants crossing the nation’s southern border.
“We are excited to partner with nonprofit organizations and local governments on this pilot program to improve services for noncitizens in immigration proceedings,” DHS Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer Katherine Culliton-González said in a news release. She has been tasked as the chair of the National Board for the Case Management Pilot Program.
“I encourage organizations working with noncitizens to apply to serve on the Case Management Pilot Program National Board and help us make this pilot program a success,” Culliton-González added.
The news release said the program’s services will include “mental health services; human and sex trafficking screening; legal orientation programs; cultural orientation programs; connections to social services; and departure planning and reintegration services for individuals returning to their home countries.”
The release also clarified, “Individuals participating in this program are those who cannot be expelled under or are otherwise excepted from Title 42.”
Title 42 is the mandate that allows the DHS to turn away many illegal immigrants at the southern border due to the threat of COVID-19.
The Washington Times reported, “A previous case management pilot program begun in the Obama administration has been highly touted by immigration activists, who said it had a high rate of compliance for showing up at initial hearings and made the process of deportation easier for those who lost their cases.”
However, after Obama left office, the paper added, “The Trump administration ended the program, saying the compliance rate dropped dramatically when it came time to actually be deported, making the program less cost-efficient than the regular detention process.”
As the new program begins, The Washington Post reported last week, “The number of migrants detained along the Mexico border crossed a new threshold last month, exceeding 200,000 for the first time in 21 years, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement data released Thursday.”
The Post added, “Among the 212,672 migrants taken into U.S. custody in July were 82,966 family members and 18,962 unaccompanied teenagers and children — an all-time high.”
Two weeks ago, Border Patrol apprehended a record 834 unaccompanied children along the nation’s southern border in a single day.
“Biden’s open border policy is a disaster,” Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton tweeted at the time.
Biden’s open border policy is a disaster. https://t.co/iY0bXE3rpb
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) August 5, 2021
The record number does not even include children from Mexico, most of whom, a Homeland Security report said, “will be repatriated and will not remain in CBP custody.”
In addition to the 834 unaccompanied migrant children, 2,784 children were in the custody of Customs and Border Protection and 591 transferred out of CBP custody.
A total of 14,523 migrant children were in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services, while 612 children were discharged from HHS care.
The updated statistics also noted the 30-day average of unaccompanied children apprehended and placed into CBP custody had reached 512 children per day.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.