Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar released a statement saying that immigrants that had been detained while illegally entering the United States are being released in Laredo, Texas, according to a statement on his website.
"The Department of Homeland Security is releasing immigrants, mostly from Central America, in the Laredo area where they are free to go with relatives or sponsor organizations while they are given a Notice to Appear for an asylum hearing before an immigration judge on a certain date. These immigrants were previously processed to be deported before being reprocessed with a Notice to Appear and therefore released on their own recognizance," Cuellar said.
According to Cuellar, border communities and taxpayers are taking on the burden of the immigrants.
"Our taxpayer dollars, and more importantly, our border communities, are bearing the burden of providing emergency shelter and food for many of these immigrants who have been coming to the border and pleading asylum in record numbers," he said.
He added that the U.S. must work with Mexico and Central America on the tide of illegal immigrants, which has been rising since October, from 46,191 then to 47,214 in November, the highest levels since 2014, according to The Daily Caller.
Those numbers are about to increase, Cuellar said. "I recently spoke with Roman Macaya, Costa Rican ambassador to the United States, regarding information that about 40,000 migrants from Haiti, as well as Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, will be on their way to the United States' southern border via Central America and Mexico."
In his statement, Cuellar noted that he was working on improving the backlog of immigrant cases by bringing in immigration judges. In fiscal year 2016, he said they provided the U.S. Department of Justice with 55 new judges, and has a deal to provide 25 more in 2017.
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