Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Get our free Inside Washington email
Some of the 8,000 migrants arrested under the Trump administration’s deportation crackdown have already been released back into the U.S., according to a report.
Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement have conducted raids in cities such as New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, arresting immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally. The surge in arrests has come as Donald Trump returns to the White House and works to fulfill a campaign promise to deport millions of illegal migrants.
ICE has shared daily numbers of those arrested, totaling about 8,000 since Trump took office.
Now, an NBC News report details how some have already been released back into the U.S., with federal court systems to blame.
An ICE spokesperson said that federal court cases limit how long ICE can hold people indefinitely if their countries refuse to take them back. That leads agents to release some of those arrested.
“The agency’s federal law enforcement officers do everything they can to keep our communities safe,” the spokesperson told the outlet. “In some cases, ICE is required to release certain arrested aliens from custody.”
The agency has not released data on how many of the arrests under Trump remain in custody or have been deported, NBC News noted.
When people are released from ICE custody, they are kept on a monitoring program. The plan has been around for a decade and is used to keep track of migrants as their cases go through the legal system. They can be tracked through ankle monitors, wrist bands or check-ins via telephone, according to NBC News.
The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment on the report.
Trump banned the “catch and release” policies that allowed migrants apprehended at the southern border to be freed in the U.S. while their cases were pending. The NBC report noted that only a few asylum cases are currently pending at the Southern border as Trump ended the practice.
ICE has a maximum capacity of 41,500 beds – which is leading to the release of migrants apprehended in other parts of the country, according to the report.
Federal officials prioritize immigrants deemed to be public safety threats for detention and use officer discretion to decide who to release. There is no indication anyone with a significant criminal record has been released.
Since the campaign, Trump has vowed to end many of the policies started under Joe Biden and deport millions from the U.S.
“I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country,” Trump said in his inaugural address moments after taking the oath of office.
Trump has signed numerous executive orders targeting immigration since taking control of the White House including trying to end birthright citizenship and declaring a national emergency at the southern border.
Article by:Source:
