President Donald Trump's administration has placed a temporary halt on weekly reports that highlight cities and counties around the country that fail to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
Accuracy of the data collected had led to concerns and confusion, The New York Times reported.
The reports were required by an executive order Trump signed in January as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration. The reports list localities that decline requests by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold undocumented immigrants who could later be picked up for deportation.
The weekly reports were designed as a part of Trump's immigration policy to find, arrest and deport those in the country illegally, but cities and counties named in the reports claim they are an attempt by the administration to force their cooperation.
However, ICE spokeswoman Sarah Rodriquez said the suspension was to give the agency time to "analyze and refine its reporting methodologies."
The first report, released in March, reportedly contained misleading information that led to confusion among law enforcement officials in the areas named. Some localities were listed as uncooperative when they had indeed cooperated with federal officials.
For instance, ICE apologized to Franklin County, Penn., for listing it among the top 10 noncompliant jurisdictions. Local officials there said not only do they provide the reports to ICE, but grant interviews to inmates as well.
Officials in New York City, Nassau County, N.Y., and Hennepin County, Minn., also reported inaccuracies in the data collected in the reports, according to the article.
In addition, there is disagreement whether ICE has the legal authority to demand local law enforcement officials hold inmates suspected of being in the country illegally.