Federal border officials on Wednesday ordered migrants being held in the Tucson, Arizona sector to be released back out onto the street due to overcapacity.
The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office said it was notified of the street releases by CBP leadership outside the county.
The sheriff’s office took aim at the Biden administration, calling the street releases another reflection of the “fracture” within the Department of Homeland Security concerning border security.
Sheriff Mark J. Dannels said the migrants were bussed into the county, processed, and then released.
“Cochise County is a rural county with limited resources leaving these migrants vulnerable,” he said. “In short, this lack of humanitarian consideration poses risk for the migrants.”
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Dannels blasted the “intellectual avoidance and abandonment with intended consequences” by leaders in Washington.
In recent months, Democrats including California Gov. Gavin Newsom have blasted and even threatened Republican Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida for busing migrants from one place to another.
Per Fox News’ Bill Melugin, the Tucson sector alone saw more than 2,000 illegal crossings the day prior. Those found to have crossed the border illegally include single adult men from African countries like Senegal.
CBP said unprocessed migrants may be transported to other sectors along the Southwest border based upon a sector’s capacity and not by “external influences.”
The agency said it releases migrants to service-providing nongovernmental organizations and other sites in border communities in coordination with state and local partners. Those who are provisionally released from CBP remain in immigration removal proceedings and have strict reporting requirements, according to the agency.
Tucson is one of the border’s busiest sectors. In July, CBP recorded that daily crossings soared to 1,900 – a 134% increase from the month prior.
The spike in migrants has included families with young children, traveling through the Arizona desert, with temperatures surpassing 110 degrees each day.
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The street releases come as DHS’s internal watchdog has found that officials at the southern border often failed to accurately obtain the addresses of tens of thousands of the migrants it releases into the United States. It found that at least 177,000 migrants have been released after giving an invalid or illegitimate address, not giving one at all, to Border Patrol agents.
The street releases also come as House Republicans are demanding documents and information from the Biden administration concerning the sale of border wall materials.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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