“We will be starting to cut them free right from the station after Title 42 ends,” one senior Border Patrol official stationed in the southwest said. “We’re told they will receive a court date, but some border sectors already have holding facilities at over 200 percent capacity. So who knows what will happen?”
Reports surfaced Tuesday that the White House is preparing to issue the order. But the two senior officials said the decision was made Tuesday evening. More than 11,000 aliens were apprehended illegally crossing the southern border that same day, the highest ever recorded in American history.
Mayorkas said at a Wednesday press conference that only “a fraction of the people we encounter” will be issued ORs. DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
One senior Border Patrol official stationed in Brownsville questioned Mayorkas’s assertion. The sheer number of aliens arriving over the next few weeks, the official said, will make it extremely difficult to maintain order.
“Saying you are issuing ORs and actually doing it are two different things,” the individual said. “It sounds good to tell the press, but some holding capacities are already way above 100%. Imagine what it will be in the days to come.”
Border Patrol officials warned earlier this month that as many as 700,000 migrants are waiting in Mexico to cross into the United States. Meanwhile, the Darién Gap, which connects South and Central America, has seen a 500 percent increase in migrant crossings.