Authorities free 1 million aliens amid proceedings

Stephen Dinan:

One million people facing immigration proceedings have been released into the general population, the government's chief of detention and removal told the Senate yesterday , prompting some Republicans to say the Bush administration is "not serious" about the problem.

"We have a million individuals who are in some phase of immigration proceedings released," said Victor X. Cerda, the acting director of detention and removal operations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

He said of those people, 465,000 are fugitive aliens who have been ordered deported. About 80,000 of those are criminal aliens who have committed an offense in addition to immigration violations, but he couldn't provide an exact number.

In the news:

Interior immigration enforcement out-numbered

Around the Blogosphere:

10,000 Arrested & 80,000 aliens Released

Criminals Should Renounce Citizenship

One Million Illegals Released Back Into Our Midst

We rely on the "honor system" with criminals