Franklin Pierce
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials – faced with a lack of housing space, an agreement that limits how long they can detain families and a massive increase in the number of border crossers – are having to resort to releasing illegal immigrants and asylum seekers "out of the front door" in Arizona.
Sheriff Leon Wilmot, head of the Arizona Sheriff’s Association, told Fox News that sheriffs have been told ICE has run out of available space in its detention facilities and has not been able to keep up with the pace of people crossing the border and presenting themselves at ports of entry.
“ICE hasn’t been able to keep up with individuals coming up the border from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, because they’re overwhelmed,” he said. “They’re releasing them out of the front door of their facilities.”
According to Customs and Border Protection, as of September, more than 90,000 family units have been detained in fiscal 2018 along with more than 45,000 unaccompanied minors. The Arizona Republic reported that the agency released at least 800 family members in the state last week. Activists that work with migrants told the outlet they think ICE is releasing immigrants in large numbers to create a "manufactured crisis" ahead of the November midterms.
ICE said in a statement that, starting last Monday, ICE began RELEASING family units from centers in Arizona without a so-called “post-release plan” -- which would normally include a transportation plan and a way to get to any relatives already in the country. Those detained are released with a notice to appear before a court hearing to adjudicate their immigration case, or in some cases paroled with supervision requirements.
ICE is limited by how long it can hold family units (FAMUs) in detention due to the 1997 Flores settlement agreement, which limits the amount of time minors can be detained to 20 days. The Trump administration is currently challenging that agreement in court after it backed down on a "zero tolerance" policy of prosecuting all who crossed the border illegally -- a policy that necessitated the separation of children from accompanying adults due to Flores.
ICE forced to release illegal immigrants ‘out of the front door’ in Arizona amid space crunch, migrant surge
Sheriff Leon Wilmot, head of the Arizona Sheriff’s Association, told Fox News that sheriffs have been told ICE has run out of available space in its detention facilities and has not been able to keep up with the pace of people crossing the border and presenting themselves at ports of entry.
“ICE hasn’t been able to keep up with individuals coming up the border from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, because they’re overwhelmed,” he said. “They’re releasing them out of the front door of their facilities.”
According to Customs and Border Protection, as of September, more than 90,000 family units have been detained in fiscal 2018 along with more than 45,000 unaccompanied minors. The Arizona Republic reported that the agency released at least 800 family members in the state last week. Activists that work with migrants told the outlet they think ICE is releasing immigrants in large numbers to create a "manufactured crisis" ahead of the November midterms.
ICE said in a statement that, starting last Monday, ICE began RELEASING family units from centers in Arizona without a so-called “post-release plan” -- which would normally include a transportation plan and a way to get to any relatives already in the country. Those detained are released with a notice to appear before a court hearing to adjudicate their immigration case, or in some cases paroled with supervision requirements.
ICE is limited by how long it can hold family units (FAMUs) in detention due to the 1997 Flores settlement agreement, which limits the amount of time minors can be detained to 20 days. The Trump administration is currently challenging that agreement in court after it backed down on a "zero tolerance" policy of prosecuting all who crossed the border illegally -- a policy that necessitated the separation of children from accompanying adults due to Flores.
ICE forced to release illegal immigrants ‘out of the front door’ in Arizona amid space crunch, migrant surge
