More than 40% of migrants did not check in as part of a catch-and-release parole program.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also failed to issue court summonses to more than 80% of the illegal immigrants caught and released.
The failure has been considered a result of “limited agency resources,” officials said.
The failure also led to a success rate of less than 20% for the parole program.
According to Andrew “Art” Arthur, a former immigration judge, “One can only imagine how many of the 2 million plus other people who have been released into the United States have simply disappeared.”
As 82% of the catch-and-release migrants have not yet been entered into the immigration court docket, Arthur said that ICE should have taken greater action.
“This was one situation in which DHS should have done everything to get it right, and even then they’re not,” he said.
He continued, “It’s a limited population of people with significant judicial interest that they knew they were going to have to answer for, and even then their efforts are extremely wanting.”
Officials may look to punish those who did not comply with the summons or parole program.
“DHS maintains its commitment that individuals have an obligation to comply with requirements imposed by DHS, and ICE is prepared to take such actions as may be required to ensure that individuals who were released pending the initiation of their immigration court proceedings comply with the terms of their release,” said Justice Department lawyer Sarah B. Fabian, a Justice Department lawyer to a judge.
Reporting from The Washington Times:
Judge Wetherell had issued a ruling halting parole. He said the releases violated his order and he threatened to hold the administration in contempt. He eventually decided against that step, saying that while he considered the releases a violation, his order was ambiguous enough that he wouldn’t issue sanctions. But he did demand an accounting of those that were released and whether they complied with the conditions governing parole — including a requirement that they checked in with ICE within 60 days of their release.
