The Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson on Saturday revealed that President Joe Biden’s administration has ordered the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to “release” all detainees in their custody.
This comes as Biden works to overhaul former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Biden has done so through a number of executive orders including one that institutes a 100-day moratorium on the deportation of illegal immigrants.
“Release them all”
What Carlson was reporting on was an internal email that was sent by ICE to its employees on Thursday. The email was in response to a question from some of these employees about the 100-day moratorium on deportations.
“As of midnight tonight, stop all removals,” the email reads. “This includes Mexican bus runs, charter flights, and commercial removals (until further notice) … all cases are to be considered [no significant likelihood of removal in foreseeable future].”
According to Carlson, the email goes on to say, “release the mall, immediately,” adding, “no sponsor available is not acceptable any longer.”
Carlson also explained that the person who wrote the email made it clear that he was just “the messenger,” that the order wasn’t coming from him but from higher up.
What’s going on here?
Following the release of this email, reports came out indicating that ICE was being ordered to release all of its detainees. And, that certainly appears to be the case – how else can one interpret “release them all?”
Breitbart explained some of the language used in the email.
“Typically, if detainees do not have sponsors in the United States, agents can hold an individual in their custody,” the outlet reports. “The memo, though, states that is no longer the case and that even detainees without sponsors must be released.”
What we simply don’t know at the moment, though, is whether ICE really is releasing all detainees. We do know, however, that the agency is following the 100-day moratorium on removals.
Some troubling numbers
Across the United States, there are roughly 138 ICE facilities where detainees are held. All-in-all, these facilities are believed to currently be holding over 14,000 immigrants. And, Breitbart reports that over 70 percent of these detainees are either convicted criminals or have pending criminal charges.
Suffice it to say that suddenly releasing all of these individuals into the public would be bad news.