Catch and release (immigration)

In United States immigration enforcement, "catch and release" refers to a practice of releasing a migrant to the community while he or she awaits hearings in immigration court, as an alternative to holding them in immigration detention.[1][2] The migrants whom U.S. immigration enforcement agencies have allowed to remain in the community pending immigrant hearings have been those deemed low risk,[3] such as children, families, and those seeking asylum.[4]

There is no "hard-and-fast definition" of the phrase,[2] which can be used as a pejorative.[5][6] Rather, the phrase refers to a "collection of policies, court precedents, executive actions and federal statutes spanning more than 20 years, cobbled together throughout Democratic and Republican administrations."[2] The Trump administration has used the phrase as a catch-all term for laws or policies preventing the holding of apprehended migrants in immigration detention.[4]

  1. ^ Salvador Rizzo, Fact-checking immigration spin on separating families and 1,500 'lost' children, Washington Post (May 30, 2018).
  2. ^ a b c Salvador Rizzo, President Trump's claim that Democrats created 'catch and release’ policies, Washington Post (April 4, 2018).
  3. ^ Trump vowed to end 'catch and release,' but on the border, it's business as usual, Los Angeles Times (February 6, 2017).
  4. ^ a b Dara Lind, "Catch and release," explained: the heart of Trump's new border agenda, Vox (April 9, 2018).
  5. ^ Jonathan Blitzer, The Border Patrol Was Primed for President Trump, New York Times (February 17, 2017).
  6. ^ S. C. Gwynne, Walled Off, Texas Monthly (May 2006).