According to the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, 96% of illegal immigrants caught crossing into the U.S. since last summer are still being held on U.S. soil.
The data shows that more than 77,000 illegal immigrant adults and minors were apprehended and served Notices to Appear between July 18, 2014 and May 26, 2015. Just over 3,000 appeared before a judge and were ordered removed.
There are approximately 900,000 immigrants in the U.S. who have been flagged for deportation. Almost 170,000 of those are convicted criminals.
Nearly 96 percent of cases either received judicial or administrative amnesty, were ordered removed “in absentia” (where in they did not appear for the proceedings), or the case has not been decided yet. About 900 were listed as voluntary departures, the status of their departures is, however, unclear.
“It is therefore almost certainly the case that more than 96% of those apprehended Central American arrivals still remain in the United States, as more arrive by the day,” Senator Jeff Sessions commented.
