Immigration officials in May reportedly dumped 235 asylum seekers detained at the southern border in county jails near New York City.
According to the New York Daily News, the detainees — part of a massive migrant surge from Central America that’s triggered a crisis at the border — were hauled to facilities in suburban Bergen County in New Jersey, and in Hudson and Orange counties north of New York City.
“In response to a surge in border arrivals that began late last year, ICE began using the New York area Correctional Facilities in May 2019 to temporarily hold persons encountered at the southern border who are awaiting adjudication of their cases before the federal immigration courts," a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the news outlet.
According to The News, illegal immigrants released at the border routinely make their first check-ins with ICE in New York. But they haven’t typically been shipped across country in such large numbers.
Bergen County Correctional Facility in Hackensack, N.J., is holding 70 female and 50 male recent border crossers, the Legal Aid Society told The News, but ICE declined to give any details of the detainees’ whereabouts.
Their release will be evaluated on a case-to-case basis, an ICE official told the news outlet.
The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, which provides free legal representation to immigrants facing deportation, lashed out at the transfers.
“The Trump Administration has again brought the border crisis to the New York City area,” the group said in a statement.
“As a sanctuary city, New York has an obligation to ensure that these individuals have access to robust counsel, and NYIFUP stands ready to provide that representation.”
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