BROWNSVILLE — Non-Mexican immigrants, including those from nations that support terrorism, are abusing the lack of detention space in the Rio Grande Valley to help them illegally stay in the country, according to testimony given Thursday before a congressional judiciary subcommittee.

During the Immigration and Border Security subcommittee hearing, witnesses told congressional officials there has been a 137 percent increase of non-Mexican immigrants crossing into the United States compared to last fiscal year.

Of the 19,000 such immigrants caught nationwide through the first half of the year, 40 percent entered through the Valley, said U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi...

If their record is clean and there is no space to accommodate them at a local detention center, the immigrants are asked their destination and then given an order to appear at an immigration court hearing there.

Most of those immigrants come from Central and South American nations and, according to federal figures, almost 90 percent of them do not appear on their court dates...

Continued in "Rep Ortiz: Non-Mexican migrants getting free pass into U.S."

At the hearing he played the video of Border Patrol agents acting basically as chauffeurs for illegal aliens. See "Border Patrol Releases Immigrants at [Harlingen, TX] Bus Station". See also "Potential terrorists released due to lack of jail space, congressman says".