President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is continuing its mass release of border crossers and illegal aliens into the interior of the United States, most recently releasing more than 17,000 migrants in less than two weeks.

According to newly obtained data by Breitbart News, DHS released about 17,065 border crossers and illegal aliens into the interior of the U.S. between March 21 and April 1, a mere 12-day period. Since December 21, 2018, DHS has released about 125,565 border crossers and illegal aliens into the interior of the country.

The Catch and Release process often entails federal immigration officials busing border crossers into nearby border cities and dropping them off with the promise that they will show up for their immigration and asylum hearings, sometimes years later. The overwhelming majority of border crossers and illegal aliens are never deported from the country once they are released into the U.S.

Since December 21, 2018, DHS has released:

12,745 border crossers into the San Diego, California area

22,000 border crossers into the Phoenix, Arizona area

37,500 border crossers into the El Paso, Texas area

53,320 border crossers into the San Antonio, Texas area

In the last 12 days, DHS released nearly 6,000 border crossers and illegal aliens into the San Antonio area, alone, forcing American communities to absorb the influx of soaring illegal immigration levels at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been tasked with releasing border crossers and illegal aliens into the interior of the U.S., ICE officialshave confirmed, under the direction of DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Acting ICE Director Ron Vitiello.

The Catch and Release policy has strained ICE resources,forcing fewer arrestsof illegal aliens living in the interior of the country in recent months.

At current rates, DHS is on track to release about 500,000 border crossers and illegal aliens into the interior of the U.S. by the end of this year. The mass release of border crossers has coincided with a surge of illegal immigration at the southern border, where aboutone to 1.5 millionillegal aliens, in total, could arrive in the U.S. this year at current projections.