Thread: ICE investigating after illegal aliens bused to San Antonio

ICE investigating after immigrants bused to San Antonio

Officials: Undocumented immigrants were from overcrowded facilities

By Max Massey - Video Journalist
Posted: 1:07 PM, March 25, 2019
Updated: 1:07 PM, March 25, 2019




SAN ANTONIO - The president and CEO of Catholic Charities of San Antonio said hundreds of immigrants were bused to San Antonio, but most were just stopping here en route to their final destinations.

Officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said they are still looking into whether the families were released from their facilities, or another agency's.

A spokesperson from ICE sent the following statement to KSAT: "ICE officials are looking into the matter regarding the bus station drop-offs. ICE cannot confirm whether or not drop-offs came from ice or another federal agency."

RELATED: 100 undocumented immigrants bused to SA from overcrowded facilities, officials say


KSAT spoke with J. Antonio Fernandez, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of San Antonio.

Q: Let’s start from the beginning. What happened this weekend at the bus station?

A: "We found out that a lot of immigrants were being released at El Paso and McAllen. We were notified that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 900 people were being released to the Catholic Church and Catholic Charities," said Fernandez.

Q: Did a small portion of that group came to San Antonio and arrived via buses?

A: "We provided shelter for 12 people Saturday and Sunday and everybody who was at the bus station received help. We fed them, we clothed them until they had to go to the airport or the bus station to get to their final destinations," Fernandez said.

Q: How did these families look when they arrived?
A: "People are coming in good health, so we haven’t seen any issues with health and they are happy they actually are finally going to see their families. Some of them have been traveling for weeks or months," Fernandez said.

Many of the families who showed up were just passing through though, headed to other cities around the country.

Catholic Charities of San Antonio is not anticipating more groups this week, but it is asking for donations, and not just money.

"Toys for the kids -- it’s simple, it’s a human thing. Kids are crossing the border, some with just a bag. Why can’t we have a teddy bear for a kid who hasn’t played with one?" Fernandez said.

https://www.ksat.com/news/ice-invest...to-san-antonio

Mass Detention Release Sends 1,000 Migrants in San Antonio

Posted By Garrett McGinley on Mon, Mar 25, 2019 at 1:19 pm

• Shutterstock

Apparent overcrowding in Rio Grande Valley border patrol holding facilities has caused authorities to mass release detainees, many of which end up in San Antonio. Catholic Charities, a non-profit dedicated to providing, among other resources, refugee and immigrant services, claimed that approximately 1,000 immigrants were dropped off in San Antonio over the past week.

“We truly don’t know when people are coming,” J. Antonio Fernandez, President of Catholic Charities said in an interview with KENS 5. “We have a major issue sometimes with logistics, because sometimes we may have a day where only five people show up, but sometimes we have a day where 200 people show up.”

Fernandez clarified that San Antonio is often used a travel hub or “second port” for released migrants dropped off in El Paso, Laredo and McAllen by Immigrant and Customs Enforcement before they reach their final destination. Most migrants arrive via bus, and the time between trips can leave many stranded in the Greyhound station and airport for hours, if not days.

Catholic Charities and other non-profit groups have offered to house and feed those in need, but the rapid, unpredictable influx of migrants has left those organizations stretched thin for resources and volunteers.

“We need the community to help us, with financial support and donations; we always struggle,” Fernandez said. “We did speak to the City of San Antonio this week and they said that if we need help, they will support us, but we need help now.”

On Oct. 23, exactly two weeks before the 2018 midterm elections, ICE began a policy of mass releasing certain detainees with the intention of making room in detention centers for the oft-discussed, asylum-seeking migrant caravan. Critics chastised the timing of the decision as baldly political move, meant to stoke conservative fear and sway contentious border state elections, where immigrant had been a hot topic, to the right.

The policy has resulted in thousands of processed immigrants being dropped off in border cities with no notice from federal authorities or help from the federal government. In January, 600 released immigrants were dropped off in El Paso unannounced during a three-day span. ICE normally coordinated and scheduled drop-offs with a local shelter, but failed to do so in this instance.

This most recent round of mass releases followed Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's visit to McAllen on Thursday, March 21.

https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/...in-san-antonio

On Oct. 23, exactly two weeks before the 2018 midterm elections, ICE began a policy of mass releasing certain detainees with the intention of making room in detention centers for the oft-discussed, asylum-seeking migrant caravan. Critics chastised the timing of the decision as baldly political move, meant to stoke conservative fear and sway contentious border state elections, where immigrant had been a hot topic, to the right.

Trump supposedly wrote an executive order ending catch & release. Trump says he's ending catch & release. Trump says catch & release must end.

It seems like the Trump administration is fumbling around like a bunch of inept idiots and are clueless on how to proceed on dong what's necessary to secure our border and end catch & release.

Originally Posted by MW

Trump supposedly wrote an executive order ending catch & release. Trump says he's ending catch & release. Trump says catch & release must end.

It seems like the Trump administration is fumbling around like a bunch of inept idiots and are clueless on how to proceed on dong what's necessary to secure our border and end catch & release.

I've moved past the inept idiots excuse, and it looks like others are also.


Tweet. Cave. Repeat. Equals 2020 Defeat.

It's a race to the bottom that will be nearly impossible for Trump to win without a third party spoiler. It's the Democrats' to lose.
by Ryan Detert
March 14, 2019 10 min read






Trump sold out and there's no way to sugarcoat it. Winning in 2020 will be nearly impossible without a third party spoiler like Howard Schultz. But it doesn't have to be that way. Don't blame voter fraud and certainly don't scapegoat the media or Congress or Jared or Paul Ryan, who are by no means innocent.


As someone who joined Trump's campaign and worked around the clock to get him elected, I'm furious. Even though I knew Trump's history I still remained cautiously optimistic. My hope was that at 70 years old he had grown bored of the money, reality TV, and porn stars, and the only thing left for him to achieve would have been immortality; canonized in every history book for posterity. We rolled the dice but came up snake eyes.


“Trump has not used everything in his power to thwart the opposition”


There's no denying that the Establishment has fought Trump's campaign agenda at every turn. But remember, the president is coequal to the 535 voting members of Congress and yet Trump has not used everything in his power to thwart the opposition; not even close.
This is what's most frustrating. Trump has not made a good faith effort to follow through on his biggest campaign promises. Not once has he used the most powerful weapon in his arsenal: the presidential veto.


Donald J. Trump is president, not Jared or Paul Ryan, and his biggest failures are a direct result of either his incompetence or unwillingness to properly address the primary reasons he was elected.


The big, beautiful doors are wide open in 2020.

https://ryandetert.com/tweet-cave-re...s-2020-defeat/

CBP begins releasing migrants in Brownsville