ICE will no longer release migrant families in Yuma; they will be transported to Phoenix

Rafael Carranza, Arizona RepublicPublished 7:03 p.m. MT Oct. 26, 2018 | Updated 7:45 p.m. MT Oct. 26, 2018

Arizona Republic reporters explain the difference between seeking asylum at the border and attempting to immigrate illegally. Carly Henry, The Republic | azcentral.com


(Photo: Border Patrol)


YUMA — U.S. immigration officials confirmed Friday that they will no longer release from detention hundreds of migrant families in this small border community.

Instead, the families will be transported and released in Phoenix, where there are better transportation options and more services to accommodate them.

The announcement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes a day after Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen visited the Yuma area for the second time this year, as the numbers of migrant families and minors, coming mostly from Central America, arriving at the border grow.

Under the new guidelines, ICE officers will bus families enrolled into its Alternative to Detention program to Phoenix and release them into the custody of nonprofit and faith-based groups, the agency said.

“The dynamics of operational realities are ever-changing on the ground and ICE makes adjustments as required to best serve the mission," Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Rodriguez told The Arizona Republic in a statement. "Coordination with external organizations continues with regard to the release of these families in Phoenix.”

The sudden release in early October of large numbers of migrant families around the state overwhelmed nonprofits. It especially hit hard in Yuma, a border community with an approximate population of 200,000.

Despite being the second-busiest entry point for migrant families along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, Yuma has fewer services and no permanent facilities to help released migrants.

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Several hundred Central American migrants walking on tCatholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, one of two nonprofits helping migrants in town, resorted to putting up families in hotels to better cope with the large influx.

Teresa Cavendish, the group's director of operations, said they received a call on Wednesday notifying them about ICE's plans to transport migrant families to Phoenix instead.

"The reason they stated for not releasing families in Yuma ... was the economy of scale," she said. "It hasn’t been productive for them to make those kind of released with 11 to 20 people a day, when they can bus all those folks to Phoenix."
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The Phoenix Restoration Project, one of the nonprofits helping migrants in Phoenix, said on Thursday they had not been made aware of any changes.

Because there are no family detention facilities in Arizona, asylum-seeking families are released into the custody of a relative living in the United States after they pass their credible-fear interviews. They are outfitted with an ankle monitor, and given a notice to appear at an immigration court several weeks later at their relative's location.

MORE: Southwest Key to close 2 Phoenix-area migrant-child shelters, pay fine

That process is what President Donald Trump and his administration refer to as a "catch and release" policy. They have actively advocated for a legislative change to the practice, seeking instead to challenge laws and court rulings restricting the government's ability to hold minors and families in detention.

Nonetheless, ICE announced this week that it would expand along the entire U.S.-Mexico border the practice they started in Arizona earlier this month, which resulted in the mass release of families that overwhelmed shelters and nonprofits.

Rodriguez issued the same statement that ICE released weeks ago in Arizona, blaming their decision to cease all "post-release" plans for migrant families on laws and court rulings restricting the government's treatment of minors in detention.

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ICE's new guidelines and Nielsen's visit to Yuma come on the heels of pressure mounted by local leaders and Arizona's two senators asking the federal government to step in and take action to address the issue.

Details of Nielsen's schedule while in Yuma on Thursday were kept under wraps, with occasional updates posted through social media.

Nielsen, joined by Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan and ICE Acting Director Ron Vitiello, met with local CBP leaders. She also toured the San Luis port of entry, where about 30 migrants are camped out on the Mexican side waiting to legally claim asylum in the U.S.
She rounded out her visit by meeting with local elected and law-enforcement leaders.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news...ma/1764048002/