NBC News reports that some immigrants who were arrested last week, have been released into the U.S. under a monitoring program because of space restrictions and court orders.
The report is released as President Donald Trump prepares to test the limits of his immigration crackdown. He will invoke a wartime act to deport immigrants who are alleged to belong to gangs without court hearings. This broad authority could boost his mass deportation drive and sweep in people who have not been charged with any crimes.
Trump promised during his campaign to deport millions of immigrants who were in the U.S. without authorization. Immigration and Customs Enforcement increased arrests last week. They arrested about 1,000 people a day. Some of them were sent back home.
Those who were not deported, for a variety of reasons, have been released and placed in a program called Alternatives to Detention. Federal court rulings limit ICE’s ability to hold people indefinitely if the country they are from refuses to accept them.
ICE tracks their movements by using ankle or wristband monitors, or through telephonic checks-in.
A spokesperson for ICE said that federal law enforcement agents do their best to keep communities safe. In some cases, ICE must release certain aliens arrested from custody.
