"We have ended dangerous catch-and-release enforcement policies," Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said in April. He was referring to a procedure in which illegal immigrants are caught by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and then, if determined not to pose any serious security risk, released to live freely in the United States while waiting for their court date, a delay that can take months or years. Many of those released are women and children, for whom there are legal limits on length of detention.
ICE agents interviewed in a new report from Reuters contradict Kelly's account. A Texan ICE field office director named Daniel Bible said his team "look[s] at each case the same way we always have" because he has not received new guidelines since Trump took office. Reuters confirmed with a DHS representative that no new instructions pertaining to catch-and-release have been issued.
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