No More Immigration Holds at Amarillo City Jail

Nov 23, 2007

More illegal immigrants will now be back on Amarillo streets after serving time for low level crimes.

Immigration officials say they don't have the resources to round up all those people once they get out of jail. Now there's no more waiting for I.C.E. officers to come pick up illegal immigrants jailed for minor offenses in Amarillo. "Once they've paid the fine or done the time then they're out," says Sgt. Randy TenBrink with Amarillo police.

I.C.E. officials have notified Amarillo police and other area law enforcement agencies that they're swamped. "We just couldn't handle all of the influx," says federal immigration spokesman Carl Rusnok. TenBrink says Amarillo police won't alert I.C.E. about illegals who commit low level misdemeanors - but they'll continue to advise them about undocumented people who commit more serious crimes.

Immigration officials estimate they're currently holding about 27,500 illegal aliens in jails across the country. The low level crimes are Class C misdemeanors and include offenses like simple assault, public intoxication and hot checks.

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