Migrants are going missing after being released into the US: Just 6,400 out of 50,000 have reported to ICE offices after crossing the border and DON'T have court dates, shocking figures reveal

Of 50,000 migrants who crossed the southern border illegally before being released without a court date, just 13 percent have reported to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to figures released on Wednesday that illustrate the pitfalls of the Biden administrations emergency immigration measures.

It comes amid a continuing surge in people crossing the border from Mexico.

The head of the U.S. Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley sector announced at the weekend that more than 20,000 people had been detained in his area, after June saw a record number of arrests along the border.

On Wednesday, Axios revealed that just 6,700 migrants who crossed between mid-March and mid-July reported to ICE offices as instructed. 

A source familiar with Department of Homeland Security data said 16,000 had not shown up within the required 60-day reporting window.

Another 27,000 migrants have not yet reported but remain within the 60-day time limit. 

New data reveal that only 13 percent of migrants intercepted at the border and then released later report an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office as instructed

President Biden is under fire from the right for a surge in numbers arriving at the southern border, while the left is concerned about plans to expedite removals

Border officials say the flow of arrivals has not tailed off as the Biden administration said it would. Brian Hastings, the chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Sector, said 20,000 people were detained more than 20,000 people in a single week

'While individuals have 60 days to check in with ICE, many are proactively reaching out to ICE to begin their official immigration processing, including by receiving a Notice to Appear,' DHS spokesperson Meira Bernstein told Axios.  

'Those who do not report, like anyone who is in our country without legal status, are subject to removal by ICE.'

Rather than being given a court date, released migrants are simply released with a list of addresses to which they are told to report.

The practise began in March to ease the burden on border facilities. 

Former Trump administration officials said it was more evidence that the administration was too soft.

Stephen Miller, a former adviser to Trump, told Fox News the report was 'just the tip of the iceberg from the data that we need."

"But again, that's all it is, a snapshot. We need all of the data pertaining to this administration's catch and release policy," he said. "Every piece of it, so that we can have total accountability and we can have a complete public awareness."

The Biden administration remains under intense pressure to control the flow of people arriving at the border.

According to Customs and Border Protection, there have been more than a million encounters along the frontier during fiscal year 2021 (from October 2020 to the end of September this year) a more than 100 percent increase on the previous period with two months to run.      

At least 336 migrants were stopped by Border Patrol agents as they walked in a caravan along the US-Mexico border in Texas - one of the largest single groups encountered in the area. 

Agents apprehended the group Tuesday near the border town of La Grulla and provided medical treatment to many of the migrants who were suffering from dehydration and exhaustion, according to Brian Hastings, the chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Sector . 

'The journey is dangerous, and smugglers have no regard for human life,' Hastings wrote in a tweet. 

Critics on the right say the White House is focused on the wrong issues, by emphasizing root causes in Central America, criticizing former President Trump's brutal policies and insisting the rising numbers were temporary. 

Figures released July 16 show 188,829 migrants were encountered at the southwestern border in June, even more than U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded in May  

Children and adults await to board U.S. Border Patrol buses in Texas after they were detained for crossing the United States-Mexico border on Tuesday

At the same time, critics on the left are concerned about measures being taken to speed up removals.

This week the Department of Homeland Security announced it will being swiftly removing migrant families that immigration officials decided did not quality for asylum after initial screening at the border.

'Expedited removal provides a lawful, more accelerated procedure to remove those family units who do not have a basis under U.S. law to be in the United States,' the department said in a statement.  

The White House also released a 21-point immigration strategy, which include a range of previously announced policies.

'We will always be a nation of borders, and we will enforce our immigration laws in a way that is fair and just. We will continue to work to fortify an orderly immigration system,' it says. 

Meanwhile, Texas has begun to take matters into its own hands.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday said National Guard troops will start helping troopers make arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border.

'To respond to this disaster and secure the rule of law at our Southern border, more manpower is needed,; Abbott wrote in a letter to Maj. Gen. Tracy R. Norris, adjutant general of the Texas National Guard.  

It comes after the state began jailing migrants caught entering private land.