ICE: 160,000 immigrant family members caught at border and released on street since December
(Worthy News) – At least 160,000 people who entered the United States illegally in family groups have been released in southern border towns since December because the federal government is unable to hold the tens of thousands entering the country each month, according to the Trump administration.
“Due to such challenges, since mid-December 2018, ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has released over 160,000 family unit members into the United States with instructions to report to a local ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] field office and immigration court,” according to a prepared statement by Nathalie R. Asher, acting executive associate director of ICE ERO, planned to give the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday afternoon.
The agency has just 2,500 beds for families in its custody and 60,000 immigrant families being taken into custody monthly. An unspecified number of those families are being released by Border Patrol and not transferred to ICE because CBP does not have room to take in new detainees. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]