Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been forced to release a number of immigrants in Arizona as it has begun running out of housing space and faces an agreement that limits how long they can detain families, as well as a surge in migrants, Fox News reports.
According to the head of the Arizona Sheriff’s Association, Sheriff Leon Wilmot, they have been told ICE lacks available space in its facilities to further detain people crossing the border, and now has to release these migrants “out of the front door.”
“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.”
Customs and Border Protection officials have said that as of last month, over 90,000 families and another 45,000 unaccompanied minors have been detained in fiscal 2018. At least 800 family members have been released in the state of Arizona in the last week alone, leading some activists working with these migrants to speculate that their release is just a ploy to create a “manufactured crisis” before the November midterm elections.
The family units have all been released without a “post-release plan,” said a statement by ICE, which typically includes a way to get these migrants to any relatives they may have in the country. Those detained are released with a notice to appear before a court hearing to adjudicate their immigration case. This would normally not be the case, the ICE added.
“However, due to the recent uptick in FAMUs presenting themselves along the Arizona border, ICE no longer has the capacity to conduct these reviews without risking violation of the Flores limitations on lengths of stay for families in both CBP and ICE custody,” the statement said. “To mitigate that risk, ICE began to curtail such reviews in Arizona beginning Sunday, October 7.”
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