Why has ICE released more than 1,000 migrants to the streets of Texas and New Mexico?
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials dropped off more than 500 more migrants in the streets of Texas and New Mexico border towns Wednesday, bringing the total to more than 1,100 over the last four days.
But why is it happening?
According to a statement released to Fox News, the mass releases — which started with more than 200 released at a Greyhouond bus station Sunday — have occurred as ICE has reached detention limits for how long the agency can hold migrant families.
“To mitigate the risk of holding family units past the timeframe allotted to the government, ICE has curtailed reviews of post-release plans from families apprehended along the southwest border,” the statement read, according to Fox News. “ICE continues to work with local and state officials and NGO partners in the area so they are prepared to provide assistance with transportation or other services.”
But local partners say that since Sunday, ICE has dropped the ball on that coordination, choosing instead to drop migrants off at local parks or bus stops, according to KVIA.
“For 356 days, it worked,” Ruben Garcia, who runs the Annunciation House immigrant shelter in El Paso, told the station. “Four of those days, they were dropped off to the street.”
Wednesday’s release of 518 migrants in El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, New Mexico, was announced by ICE beforehand, according to KDBC, which previously reported that 186 migrants were released in downtown El Paso on Christmas Day.
The releases come alongside the death of a second migrant child — 7-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo from Guatemala — in federal custody at a border detention center, according to The Associated Press. Jakelin Caal Maquin, also 7 and from Guatemala, died in federal custody at the border on Dec. 8, the AP reported.
“I can’t speak for CBP. (But) because of the concern with a second child dying, it’s my opinion to reduce the numbers in holding cells, I anticipate a large number of families being released to bring the number of people in holding cells to some kind of balance,” Garcia told the El Paso Times. “We work really well with ICE. Communication had been going really, really well. They ask me what our capacity is and tell me what their numbers are. I think over this past weekend something changed.”
