The vast majority of the families and minors who where apprehended illegally entering the United States during the border surge of 2012-2014 have vanished to the interior of the U.S., according to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies.

According to CIS extrapolations from data obtained by Houston’s KPRC, few of those undocumented immigrants are actually legally allowed to remain in the county, but 91 percent have ignored requirements to appear in immigration court.

“It’s not clear to me what is smart or effective about a massive and costly catch-and-release scheme that has resulted in the illegal resettlement of tens of thousands of illegal aliens, with taxpayers now picking up the tab for schooling, health care, housing, public safety, and other expenses, and which has only increased the incentives for more people to try to enter illegally,” CIS director of policy studies Jessica Vaughan says.

The local television report looked at immigration court data for family units and unaccompanied children caught illegally crossing the border between July 18 and Oct. 28. It revealed that most have failed to appear at their immigration proceedings.

It found that “of the 30,467 families and unaccompanied children caught crossing the border between July and October, only 22 percent have received a final disposition as to whether they will be allowed to stay in the U.S. or be deported” and that of that most have been completed in absentia or ordered removed due to a failure to appear in court.

Using the numbers detailed in the report, Vaughan was able to determine that there were more families than unaccompanied minors arriving in the U.S. illegally, even though the problem was often described as an influx of children. Also, she found that at least 92 percent of family units were released into the U.S. even after being apprehended.

Other findings in Vaughan’s report included:

Nearly all of those released (5,575 out of 6,093 total families and UACs, or 91 percent) subsequently failed to appear at their immigration hearings and are now part of the illegal alien population.

According to these figures, 43 percent of those family members classified as “detained” (nine people) also failed to appear for their hearings, suggesting that they actually were released at some point.

Even under the current, very generous, interpretations of immigration law, only 3 percent of these illegal aliens were found qualified to stay in the United States (204 out of 6,093 completed cases).

Only 314 of the 6,093 cases completed (5 percent) were present for their hearing and could actually be removed by authorities after receiving the order from the judge.