Non-Mexican illegal aliens set U.S. record

WASHINGTON, July 26 (UPI) -- Federal agents say a crisis is emerging at the U.S.-Mexican border that could allow as many as 150,000 non-Mexican illegal aliens into the United States.

T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said the United States has an "insane" policy of catching and releasing non-Mexican illegal aliens until a deportation hearing, for which 85 percent never show up.

"They know that as soon as they are caught, they will be free to roam at will," Bonner told the Christian Science Monitor.

Some 65,000 non-Mexican illegal aliens crossed the U.S. border last year -- 644 from "countries of concern," Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar told a House committee recently.

A record 119,000 non-Mexican illegal immigrants have been apprehended so far this year, a number that could hit 150,000.

"We are not protecting Americans against the next terrorist attack," former immigration agent Michael Cutler said. "There are so many holes in the system."

Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley are being trained in a pilot "expedited removal" program -- already used in Laredo, Texas, and Tucson, Ariz. -- that skips the courts.