The Biden administration has released an unprecedented number of migrants into the interior of the country, a new report from the House Judiciary Committee shows. 

While the number of crossings itself is at a record high, the Biden administration has failed to remove as many as 3 million migrants via the immigration court system. “Since January 20, 2021, through September 30, 2023, at least 3,095,577 illegal aliens had no confirmed departure from the United States as of September 30, 2023,” the report states. 

“That figure is an increase of 631,153 illegal aliens in just the six months between March 31, 2023, and September 30, 2023, and it does not include any releases from record-high encounters between October and December 2023, or the more than 1.7 million known ‘gotaways’ who entered the United States under President Biden’s watch,” it continues.

The lack of domestic enforcement — caused in part by the sheer number of crossings requiring additional law enforcement resources at the border — has put unsustainable stress on localities across the country. “As of December 10, 2023, there were 1,323,264 illegal aliens with final orders of removal who remained in the United States,” the Judiciary Committee said in a statement. 

The committee says in a previous report that removal proceedings have not taken place because officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been diverted to aiding Border Patrol. 

“The Committee also reported how ICE officers had been forced to abandon interior immigration enforcement to process the flood of illegal aliens arriving in the country every day” at the border, the report states. 

The number of crossings — totaling more than 300,000 in December alone — has created an urgency in Congress to address the crisis. Senators are still negotiating a border security and immigration reform package aimed at restricting the administration’s parole authority and expediting visa access, among other things.  Senator Schumer says he hopes to put it up for a vote next week. 

In the House, though, members are not as eager to take up whatever legislation comes out of the upper chamber. On Wednesday, 14 Democrats voted with all Republicans to condemn the administration’s handling of the border, and representatives on both sides of the aisle are accusing the Senate of making too many concessions. 

Some of the 14 Democrats were moderate members from districts won by President Trump in 2020, like Congressman Jared Golden and Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, while others came from border states. Three congressmen of Texas, Vicente Gonzalez, Henry Cuellar, and Colin Allred, voted to condemn the administration’s policies.