What is going on in Abilene, Texas? The recent increase in activity with illegal migrants arriving in the city without a prior heads-up to local officials or law enforcement is being questioned by Rep. Jodey Arrington. Arrington has some questions for ICE and DHS Secretary Mayorkas.

Arrington’s district includes Abilene and Lubbock. He wrote to Mayorkas and asked a series of questions about reports of illegal migrants being dumped in Abilene. The migrants are apprehended on the southern border and make their way through the process to detention centers in West Texas and then to Abilene. One such person described the process. He says he crossed the southern border on July 12 and surrendered to authorities. He asked to remain anonymous and is referred to as “John”.

He says he first was processed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in McAllen, then transported to El Paso, where he and the other immigrants were checked, given medical treatment, tested for COVID-19, then quarantined if they were positive.

John later ended up at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas, where he was released with a court date in 26 days.

He was able to leave the facility because he made prearranged travel plans, so he was taken to the airport with a plane ticket in hand.

John is one of many immigrants caught at the border then released to fight their case in court.

“John” had a ticket to fly to Pennsylvania from Abilene. Who paid for that plane ticket? Was it ICE? Family members and/or friends? That’s one of the questions Rep. Arrington is raising with Secretary Mayorkas. Arrington and local officials were unaware that DHS made the decision to use Abilene as a hub for transporting illegal migrants into the interior of the United States. ICE didn’t tell anyone before this began or what exactly the process is going forward.

An immigration attorney described the catch and release process step by step – the one “John” is participating in now.

Once immigrants arrive at a detention facility, they wait to fight their case in court, and some immigrants get the chance of a bond hearing.

“It’s on a case-by-case basis that you qualify for a bond hearing because not everyone qualifies for it,” Interiano says.

At the hearing, ICE sets a fee that the immigrant has to pay to get out of the detention center, similar to bailing out of jail.

“Immigration and nationality law says it should not be less than $1,500,” Interiano says.

The price can be higher, and Interiano said family members usually pay the bond.

After the bond is paid, “you are released under custody or under supervision,” Interiano says. “It is because they might have determined that you are not a criminal, that you are not a risk of flight, and that you have relatives in the United States.”

Those who are released are given a time frame to appear in court, but it doesn’t have to be in Texas.

“It’s a matter of jurisdiction,” Interiano says. “You can request to move your hearing to the jurisdiction where you are going to reside.”

That’s when immigrants travel to bus stops or through airports, like the one in Abilene, to meet with their family members or US sponsors.

Interiano says the immigrants themselves, their families, or in some cases, employers, are the ones who pay for these flights. But in rare cases, ICE might chip in and pay instead.

“There will be instances when they want you out pretty quick, that’s when they’ll probably pay the plane ticket,” he says.

As we know from recent reporting, only about 13% of the migrants with court dates or instructions to show up at an ICE office actually do that. The process is failing epically in no small part because of the sheer volume of illegal migrants crossing the border. The Border Patrol agents move them to detention facilities along the border, then ICE takes them away from the border to communities in Texas and then from there they go to other states. It is as Governor Abbott has said, the Biden border crisis is in Texas but it will not remain a problem exclusively for Texas. It’s coming to your state, too.

So, Abilene Regional Airport is being used as a hub to transport illegal migrants around the country. The activity is being described as mysterious by local officials. Abilene Director of Transportation Don Green told reporters that the airport is only given 24 to 48 hours’ notice before flights arrive. The planes are private charters from ICE.

KTAB and KRBC shot video of strange activity at the airport, such as immigrants getting off unmarked planes, getting frisked, then getting onto buses. Other video shows these buses arrive at the airport and let the immigrants off, where they then board planes to anywhere in the country.

Listen here to my full interview with @KTABTV where I discuss the recent reports of illegal immigrants being released by ICE into the Abilene community. https://t.co/U3i87JtELG

— Rep. Jodey Arrington (@RepArrington) August 6, 2021

Where is all the transparency we’ve been promised by Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas? No one is communicating a cohesive border security policy. The migrants continue to flood the border because they know they can do it.

A record number of unaccompanied minors were apprehended at the border on Wednesday. On that day alone, 834 migrant children were apprehended, none of them with a parent or guardian. It’s the highest such number ever recorded.

BREAKING: The Biden administration announces 834 migrant children were encountered at the southern border on Wednesday. Each child was alone and without a parent or guardian.

That's the highest daily number ever. pic.twitter.com/6ClSCW6yKe

— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) August 5, 2021

This isn’t just a Texas problem, it’s a national problem that Team Biden wishes to sweep under the rug, quietly flying detainees around the country. Shuffling them to other states is bound to make headlines eventually. Joe Biden is well protected by most national media. FNC is the only national cable network covering the Biden border crisis on a daily basis, with reporters on the ground in the Rio Grande Valley. We’d like to think that the other networks would show some journalistic curiosity but with CNN, for example, still only interested in doing anti-Trump stories and dwelling on the January 6 riot seven months later, that’s not likely to happen anytime soon.