Report: Barely Half Of Illegal Border Crossers Are Caught
The report found that 54 percent of people who entered illegally between border crossings got caught in the 2015 fiscal year. That’s much lower than the 81 percent success rate that Homeland Security cited publicly using a different counting method.
The 98-page report was completed in May, and Homeland Security officials have declined to release it, despite urging from some members of Congress.
The Associated Press obtained a copy from a government official involved in border issues who acted on condition of anonymity because the department has not made the report public.
The department said Thursday that the report was “one building block provided by a research organization” toward developing more reliable measures of border security and that its methodology needed refinement.
“DHS does not believe it is in the public interest to release, and it would be irresponsible to make policy or other judgments on the basis of analysis that is incomplete and remains a work in progress,” spokeswoman Marsha Catron said.
The report found that 54 percent of people who entered illegally between border crossings got caught in the 2015 fiscal year. That’s much lower than the 81 percent success rate that Homeland Security cited publicly using a different counting method.
The 98-page report was completed in May, and Homeland Security officials have declined to release it, despite urging from some members of Congress.
The Associated Press obtained a copy from a government official involved in border issues who acted on condition of anonymity because the department has not made the report public.
The department said Thursday that the report was “one building block provided by a research organization” toward developing more reliable measures of border security and that its methodology needed refinement.
“DHS does not believe it is in the public interest to release, and it would be irresponsible to make policy or other judgments on the basis of analysis that is incomplete and remains a work in progress,” spokeswoman Marsha Catron said.
