Q&A of the day – What happens with asylum seekers and illegal immigrants once they’re turned down or captured in the US
It’s the Q&A of the day. Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Twitter: @brianmuddradio
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Here’s today’s question…
Why doesn't anyone do a story on what happens to illegals once they are tuned down from entering this country or rejected for asylum (85%)? The left wants us to think they go back to their country some 2000 miles away, a reverse caravan.Actually, most then sneak into this country illegally. Why aren't reporters doing this story and then show how their arrival in the U.S. puts a strain on local schools, hospitals, police services, free housing and meals.
Bottom Line: Ask and you shall receive. In fact, I’ve covered parts of what you’ve asked for recently but am happy to put it altogether. Here’s a quick recap of numbers I’ve previously broken down for you.
- $26.8 billion – the average annual cost of illegal immigration in the US (inclusive of those who use government programs illegally as well)
- $134 – the per day, per person cost to detain someone who’s set to be processed for either asylum consideration or deportation
Now, let’s move it forward to the new aspects of your question. Starting with asylum seekers. In 2018, 65% of asylum seekers were denied. There were also a record number of requests processed and considered. Just over 14,000 asylum seekers were accepted and granted entry in the US while around 29,000 were declined. With the caravans as active as it’s been there’s no real surprise for the record setting detentions, requests and cases being heard. You might imagine we’re set for new record in 2019 unless something, the wall, dramatically changes.
Here’s an added little nugget for you. Florida is the 3rd most common state for an asylum seekers to permanently settle if they’re successful in being granted asylum (with California 1st and New York 2nd). As for what happens with asylum seekers who’re declined... They’re deported just as illegal immigrants detained would be under ICE.
As for how many illegal immigrants slip through or attempt to reenter after being detained... We don’t know what we don’t know,but the latest numbers from the Border Patrol and ICE suggests that those who sneak through are about 40% of the detained number. In January just over 58,000 apprehensions took place at the southern border. That’d mean that around 23,000 illegal immigrants would’ve made it through.
Yet more evidence of why it’s important to give the Border Patrol the resources they need to do their job – which includes their wall. That being said – visa overstays remain a significant problem as well as it’s estimated that just under half of all new illegal immigrants are those who came on legal visa’s that have since expired.