Biden admin to let illegal migrants skip NYC ICE appointments

The Biden administration is quietly rushing to implement new policies that will loosen restrictions on migrants who entered the US illegally — a parting attempt to thwart President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration crackdowns and mass deportations, sources tell The Post.

And the Big Apple will be ground zero for these changes.

The outgoing administration intends to launch an ICE Portal app starting in early December in New York City that will allow migrants to bypass in-person check-ins to their local ICE office.

Hundreds of migrants from all over the world wait in line at 26 Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan to enter the ICE office there on Nov. 11, 2024. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post

Homeland Security sources tell The Post the app will make it easier for migrants to flee authorities in part because the software has proven to be glitchy and unreliable.

Even when it’s working correctly, the new app doesn’t check for past arrests or outstanding warrants — something the current system tied to in-person appointments does, sources said.

Up to 100,000 migrants will be enrolled in the first wave of the program, sources said.

That’s just one of a handful of initiatives being pushed through before inauguration day — including allowing migrants to contest government orders to undergo electronic tracking while they await their immigration appointments.

And experts said rolling back the policies might not be as simple as Trump waving his pen, because changes could be subject to both procedural hurdles and legal challenges.

The Biden administration is planning on opening an ICE Portal app for New York City that will allow migrants to skip appointments at their local ICE office. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post

“A lot of lawsuits get filed, maybe frivolously, but it just kind of stalls what the administration wants to do,” one DHS source said.

Former acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan slammed the Biden administration’s last-minute moves as “the opposite of a peaceful transition of power.”

“This is an obstructionist transition,” said Morgan.

“What they’re trying to do in the last final day, they’re going to try to put up as many roadblocks and obstacles and throw as many grenades as they can on their way out.”

Migrants continue crossing illegally into the US ahead of Trump’s inauguration. Toby Canham for NY Post

Morgan added that he believes that Trump’s move to abolish the new Biden policies could be slowed down by court challenges — which were effective in blunting Trump immigration policies in his first administration.

In New York City’s field office, where the app will launch, ICE is already overwhelmed by the number of illegal migrants roaming the streets.

As of early last year, the office was already “fully booked through October 2032” for appointments to process migrants released into the US, according to an official document previously reviewed by The Post.

Migrant parents at New York City’s Row Hotel shelter on Nov. 17, 2024. G.N.Miller/NYPost

More than 223,000 migrants have come to the city since the migrant crisis began — and more than 58,000 are still being cared for by taxpayers in city-funded shelters, according to a report from City Hall this week.

The Biden administration is rolling out the app despite “extreme issues” with it during pilot program testing in several cities, sources said.

The app hasn’t worked on Android phones and when used on a laptop for check-ins, it doesn’t collect the GPS location of a participant — meaning they could be reporting in from anywhere, according to the sources.

When it is used on a phone, the app only shares the location of the subject for seven days.

That contrasts with the current system, where migrants have to provide proof of their current address. The database also constantly searches for arrest records for migrants anywhere in the country — even if they fail to show up for appointments — and will flag ICE officers.

That system allows ICE to be more proactive about migrants who have been arrested, even when they are currently in a sanctuary city like New York.

The app and the current migrant tracking database do not speak to each other, sources said, making it harder for ICE to keep track of migrant criminals.

“We need that information that if these people don’t go to court, they have absconded, they have a final order of removal. We need that data … to go start looking for people,” said a source.

But the new changes don’t stop there.

New York City’s ICE field office is “fully booked through October 2032” for appointments to process migrants. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post

The Biden administration is also trying to sneak through loosened regulations on its electronic monitoring of released migrants, such as its use of ankle bracelets, through ICE’s “Alternatives to Detention” program.

The proposed changes will afford migrants new rights that “allow them to contest monitoring and tracking,” said a source.

If the program is implemented, migrants will be allowed to “request a review at any time” and demand that minoring be either downgraded or terminated entirely, the source added.

“It gives the alien the ability to get off the program entirely,” the source said.

Another source said that under the new changes, a migrant can ask to be “de-escalated” from monitoring if they are “compliant in the program.” If ICE officers reject the request, the migrant can take them through a lengthy appeals process.

“What it is doing is creating a lot of burdensome administrative paperwork justifying what they’re doing now. I can tell you a lot of employees would just look at this is this is too much work. Most cases, they’ll just terminate them from the program and not have to go through the appeal process,” said the source.

ICE didn’t immediately respond when reached for comment.