Exclusive: Acting ICE director lays out border challenges
- NewsNation spoke with acting ICE director for exclusive interview
- He cited staffing shortages and limited bed space as major issues
- Although it's early, he remains optimistic about Biden's asylum changes
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(NewsNation) — Major resource and staffing issues are complicating migrant vetting processes, according to Patrick Lechleitner, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Lechleitner sat down for an exclusive one-on-one interview with NewsNation Senior National Correspondent Brian Entin.
The acting director said it’s impossible to properly vet and keep track of everyone who comes across the border and into the country without authorization.
Earlier this week, officers arrested eight suspected Islamic State group terrorists who came across the southern border and reportedly underwent background checks. Ultimately, they entered the country.
Lechleitner said there are too many people in the system, and one ICE agent is responsible for keeping track of thousands of migrants.
“As an example, that is like a probation officer overseeing 7,000 people,” Lechleitner said. “It is really crazy. It is so large it is untenable. It is the situation we are in. We don’t have enough people to arrest our way out of this. We could use definitely more resources, more support personnel. We need more detention officers. We need more money. More money for detention space. I’ve been on the record saying that. And we need more money for transportation.”
The director has asked Congress for more money and more detention beds. He says they need 50,000 detention beds to house migrants detained who come across the border.
As for the president’s executive order trying to slow the rush of migrants crossing, the director says it’s still too soon to know the real impact, but he is optimistic.
