Patrick Lechleitner, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security says that it is “quite common” for DHS to have “no data” on migrants who are released from the border.

Lechleitner made his remarks after eight Tajikistani immigrants, who were linked to ISIS, were arrested by ICE agents this week in three states after they had crossed the border and undergone background checks. At the time, DHS officials did not know about their terrorism ties.

Lechleitner, during an interview with NewsNation was asked specifically about the ISIS linked migrants and how these people were allowed into the U.S. once they crossed the border.

Lechleitner explained:

There are many instances where there is nothingm. You don’t know anything about these people, they may be from an area that’s of concern, but later you find out more information. We went and collected them as soon as we became aware of information. In this case, for example, we are working with the FBI and were collaborating. [Emphasis added]

The comments are important because President Joe Biden’s DHS transformed the border to a European style checkpoint, where an overwhelming majority, possibly 9 out of 10, are apprehended and briefly detained before being released back into American communities, with court dates years away.

The Congressional Budget Office published a report in January that revealed DHS has welcomed over 6.2 million immigrants to the U.S. Interior since Biden assumed office.

Lechleitner stated in another part of the NewsNation Interview that the record illegal immigration flow over the past few years ensures that one ICE Agent is responsible for thousands immigration cases.

Lechleitner explained that this would be like having a probation officer or parole officer supervise 7,000 people. “It’s ridiculous, it’s crazy,” he said. It’s simply too large.

Lechleitner stated that ICE requires Congress to fund a minimum of 50,000 beds for detention. This is far more than the 25,000 beds requested by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Even if Congress funded Lechleitner’s request for detention, it would only make up a small fraction of the migrants who are not currently in ICE’s custody.

By the end of Fiscal year 2023, there will be 6.2 million migrants who are in deportation procedures but not yet detained. This means that many more beds and monitoring programs will be required to track migrants properly.