Thread: 235 migrants who crossed Mexico border transferred to NJ and NY jails this month

235 migrants who crossed Mexico border transferred to NJ and NY this month

Monsy Alvarado, North Jersey RecordPublished 2:26 p.m. ET May 29, 2019 | Updated 5:37 p.m. ET May 29, 2019


Federal immigration officers have transferred 235 migrants encountered at the U.S.-Mexican border to detention facilities in New York and New Jersey this month amid a crossing surge that has overwhelmed processing and holding centers near the border.

"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 spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in an email statement. "Due to federal privacy laws regarding the nature of claims made by these persons ICE is limited in its ability to discuss case specifics of persons housed at this location.”

The transfers were first reported by the Daily News on Wednesday.

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York received the migrants, who will be detained locally pending immigration proceedings.


The ICE spokesman would not say where the detainees are being held while awaiting their asylum proceedings, but there are several locations in New Jersey and New York region that house immigrant detainees.

In New Jersey, the county jails of Bergen, Hudson and Essex counties hold immigration detainees, as well as a private facility in Elizabeth. Migrants whose cases are heard through the New York immigration court on Varick Street are sent to the Bergen and Hudson county jails.


In New York, the Orange County Correctional Facility in Goshen houses immigrant detainees for the federal government.

In the past, ICE has transferred individuals from the southern border to the Bergen and Hudson county jails, according to advocates who help those being detained. But large-scale transfers were not seen in the past, they said.

"They bring them up five at a time ... but such a number is unusual,'' said Ravi Ragbir, executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City.

"I'm expecting that if they are bringing people up, it is with that intent [to release them eventually],'' he added.

The Bergen County jail (Photo: NorthJersey.com/File)


Weeks ago, President Donald Trump confirmed he might force immigration officials to transport migrants who arrive at the border to so-called sanctuary cities, which are jurisdictions, like New York City, that don't fully comply with federal immigration officials. But last week, the president denied reports that migrants would be flown to Florida and other coastal states.

Some immigrant advocates, including Ragbir, said at the time that they were still preparing for the possibility of mass arrivals because they didn't know what the Trump administration would do with the escalating number of migrants seeking asylum at the border.

Organizations providing free legal representation to detained immigrants at the Varick Street Immigration Court through the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project said in a joint statement that the transfers mean that the Trump administration has again “brought the border crisis to the New York City” area.

“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,'' a statement from the organization said.

"We will work with our partners at City Hall during this influx to ensure that no one detained at any local ICE jail is deprived of their right to representation and due process."

Last year, under the administration's zero-tolerance immigration policy, many children who had been separated from their parents at the border were transferred to facilities in New York. The zero-tolerance policy called for parents who crossed the border to be charged criminally — a departure from previous administrations that treated first-time crossings as a civil infraction.

Since Trump took office and signed an executive order that ramped up immigration enforcement, local jails that have agreements to hold immigrant detainees for the federal government have seen a jump in that population.

The Bergen County Jail, for example, held 115 to 250 ICE detainees during some days in 2016, according to daily counts provided by the Bergen County Sheriff's Office. In 2019, those counts have reached more than 400 on some days.

On Wednesday, 438 male and female immigrant detainees for ICE were being held there, according to an official at the Sheriff's Office.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/ne...ny/1270947001/

REMAIN IN MEXICO!

LET THEM PAY FOR THEM!

Feds transferred over 230 undocumented immigrants detained near Mexico border to NYC-area jails

By STEPHEN REX BROWN

| NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |

MAY 29, 2019 | 3:30 AM

More than 230 undocumented immigrants detained near the Mexico border were transferred this month to jails near New York City as the federal government struggles to house a growing number of asylum-seeking migrants. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)


More than 230 undocumented immigrants detained near the Mexico border were transferred this month to jails near New York City as the federal government struggles to house a growing number of asylum-seeking migrants.

An immigration official said the transfer of 235 immigrant detainees to ICE jails in Bergen, Hudson and Orange Counties appeared to be the first time the New York City area had received such a large number of border crossers.

“ICE is committed to the health and safety of all those in its custody. 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," an ICE spokeswoman said.

Undocumented immigrants released at the border routinely make their first check-ins with ICE in New York. Immigrants detained at the border, however, have typically not been transferred to the other side of the country in such large numbers. The roughly 300 undocumented children separated from their families and held at facilities in the New York area last year were under the care of a different federal agency, the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Federal statistics show apprehensions at the southwest border are at historic levels. The feds apprehended 98,977 people at the border in April.

More than 68% of those people were children and people traveling as families.


That was the highest one-month figure since April 2007, when more than 104,000 people were apprehended.

In April of 2018, 38,243 people were apprehended at the border.

ICE declined to share further information about the immigrants recently transferred to the New York area, who are in the custody of ICE’s office of Enforcement and Removal Operations. Bergen County Correctional Facility in Hackensack, N.J., is holding 70 female and 50 male recent border crossers, according to the Legal Aid Society.


Two immigration attorneys told the Daily News it was likely many of the immigrants were from Central America and seeking asylum because they could not return home due to fear of violence.

“There’s a tremendous increase in individuals seeking asylum from these countries in the last few years,” said Matthew Kolken, an immigration attorney in Buffalo. “Unfortunately, the asylum officers have become overwhelmed.”

Being granted asylum, which was already extraordinarily challenging, has become “almost impossible” since President Trump took office, Kolken added.

The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, which provides free legal representation to immigrants facing deportation, said it would try to contact the new arrivals to the New York-area jails.

“The Trump Administration has again brought the border crisis to the New York City area. 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. We will work with our partners at City Hall during this influx to ensure that no one detained at any local ICE jail is deprived of their right to representation and due process," the group said in a statement.

Trump last month claimed that immigrants detained at the border were being sent to sanctuary cities, like New York, that offer protections from deportation.

“Last month alone, 100,000 illegal immigrants arrived at our borders, placing a massive strain on communities and schools and hospitals and public resources like nobody’s ever seen before. Now we’re sending many of them to sanctuary cities, thank you very much. They’re not too happy about it. I’m proud to tell you that was actually my sick idea, by the way," Trump said at a rally in Green Bay, Wis.

But it appeared that statement was false and that Trump’s proposal was not actually implemented.

The Washington Post reported that the plan was rejected by ICE as inappropriate.


ICE gave no indication the detained migrants transferred from the border to New York-area jails would be released. Everyone arrested by ICE is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, an ICE official said.


But there are signs that immigration officials are struggling to find space for the growing number of ICE detainees. NBC News reported this month that the U.S. military plans to build six tent cities at sites near the border for 7,500 migrants.

Kolken said undocumented immigrants have faced “an erosion of an individuals’ right to be released from custody” since the Clinton administration.

In over 20 years of representing immigrants he’d never seen anything like the current state of affairs, where asylum seekers are lined up in droves at ports of entry.

“This is not normal. There are not enough resources,” he said. “It’s a bottleneck.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...opu-story.html

What happened to Trump's policy of keeping then in Mexico until their cases are adjudicated?

MW, the Remain in Mexico policy applies to asylum seekers presenting themselves at the ports of entry, not illegal border crossers. At least that was my understanding of what Mexico ultimately agreed to. But I can't find a copy of the actual text, so I don't know. There's a Migration Protection Protocols Policy posted on DHS website that includes everyone, but I don't think Mexico agreed to that. Does anyone know the details?

It's just heart-breaking to see this disaster unfolding, day after day, week after week, powerless to stop it. We go from the lowest illegal immigration levels in 45 years under the Trump administration for 2 years, then, boom, this disaster with no way to stop it, Executive Orders are blocked by the courts, needed funding is blocked by the Democrats who won control of the US House of Representatives, Border Patrol can't stop it, ICE can't stop it, National Guard can't stop it, Active Military can't stop it, National Emergency Declarations can't stop it, Government Shutdowns can't stop it, there's no way to stop it.

Why? Because it's legal.

Admission and release of asylum-seekers at ports of entry, real or not, is .... legal.

Admission and release of border jumpers who then claim asylum, real or not, is .... legal.

Admission and release of family units crossing the border claiming asylum or not, is .... legal.

Admission and release of Unaccompanied Minor Children is .... legal.

Delaying their "adjudications" or hearings with DOJ for years is ..... legal.

Handing them work permits after certain periods of time while they wait for hearings is ..... legal.

Admission and release on bail of All Others while they wait for hearings is ..... legal.

Releasing children to pedophile sponsors is ..... legal.

Releasing detainees to sex slave sponsors is .... legal.

Releasing detainees to illegal alien sponsors is .... legal.

Illegal aliens stealing jobs from Americans is ..... legal.

Everything that is going on is going according to .... law.

It's just stunning how screwed up and truly insane our laws are.

And it looks like they will always be so.