According to court documents, an average of over 1,100 migrants are transferred every day from Customs and Border Protection custody at the southwest border “almost exclusively by contractors.”
“The sheer number of noncitizens encountered by CBP along the southwest border and transferred to ICE custody makes it impossible for it to use law enforcement officers — as opposed to contractors — to transport them while still executing its law enforcement responsibilities,” Russell Hott , an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations assistant director, said in court filings.
Brian Hastings, chief patrol agent for U.S. Border Patrol, said in court filings that if the executive order prevents the transport of migrant children and families, it would cause them to be held for longer periods within Border Patrol facilities, violating federal rules. It would also crowd the facilities and worsen the chance of COVID-19 spread, he said.