Thread: Hundredes of illegal aliens flown from Texas to Arizona and released

FROM THE MSM USATODAY

Scores of undocumented migrants dropped off in Arizona

Daniel González,
10:50 a.m. EDT May 29, 2014


(Photo: Michael Chow/The Republic)

PHOENIX — Scores of undocumented immigrants from Central America have been released at Greyhound Lines Inc. bus stations in Tucson and Phoenix over the past several days after they were flown to Arizona from south Texas, officials acknowledged.

Andy Adame, a spokesman for the Border Patrol in Tucson, confirmed that over the weekend federal officials flew about 400 migrants apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to Tucson to be processed. He said the migrants were flown to Arizona because the Border Patrol does not have enough manpower to handle a surge in illegal immigrants in south Texas.

The release has drawn criticism from those on both sides of the immigration issue.

STORY: Police find more than 100 immigrants in stash house
STORY: Sheriffs opt to free suspected undocumented immigrants

Border enforcement groups are concerned that the migrants will now disappear into the U.S., spurring even more to come illegally.

"This is a huge concern," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for more immigration and border enforcement.

"This is exactly the incentive for people to cross the border illegally," he said.

Humanitarian groups are concerned that immigration officials are dropping migrants off at bus stations to fend for themselves without food, water and basic necessities.

Judy Elizabeth Martinez, holding Marjorie, tries to reach family after being released by ICE at a Greyhound Bus station in Phoenix May 28, 2014. She is from Guatemala and was flown from Georgia to Arizona by ICE. The Border Patrol says about 400 migrants were flown from Texas to Arizona because of surge in migrants being apprehended in Texas.(Photo: Michael Chow/The Republic)


"It's not safe healthwise and we are concerned for their physical safety," said Cyndi Whitmore, a volunteer with the Phoenix Restoration Project, an advocacy group that has been going to the bus terminal in Phoenix to help.

She said that Tuesday night she went to the Greyhound station on Buckeye Road and found 50 women and young children who had just been released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Among the children were infants 6 months old.

"Some of the kids were crying," Whitmore said. "Some were infants that weren't fully clothed. They didn't have diapers. They didn't have formula."

Laurie Melrood, a volunteer family advocate in Tucson, said ICE has been dropping off small numbers of migrants at the Greyhound bus station there for about seven months.

But on Monday, she said, ICE dropped off about 70 people, followed by another 90 on Tuesday and at least 60 on Wednesday.

She said all of the migrants dropped off this week were women and children. In the past, most were adult men and women.

"The conditions under which they are released are inadequate and inhumane," she said.

Migrants are released from ICE custody at a Greyhound Bus station in Phoenix May 28, 2014. The Border Patrol says about 400 migrants were flown from Texas to Arizona because of surge in migrants being apprehended in Texas. This group was from Texas and Georgia.(Photo: Michael Chow/The Republic)


In response, volunteers in Phoenix and Tucson have been going to the bus stations to help the migrants make arrangements to buy bus tickets to travel to relatives in other cities. They also have been providing food, water and other necessities.

South Texas is now the main gateway for illegal immigration along the Southwest border with Mexico. Border Patrol arrests in the Tucson Sector have plummeted in recent years but have soared in the Rio Grande Valley. Last fiscal year, Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector apprehended 154,453 immigrants attempting to cross, up from 97,762 the previous year, according to USA TODAY.

ICE officials said the migrants being released are families apprehended by the Border Patrol trying to enter the U.S. illegally. After screening, they are being released under supervision and then required to report to a local ICE office near their destination within 15 days.

Their cases will be managed based on ICE enforcement priorities, which focus on removing criminals who pose a threat as well as recent border crossers and immigration violators.

But Mehlman at FAIR said that once migrants are released, they often disappear and ICE doesn't go looking for them unless they have criminal records.

ICE officials said the agency began transporting migrants to the bus station in Phoenix after Greyhound officials complained the station in Tucson was being overwhelmed.

In response to criticism, the agency started giving migrants sack lunches and allowing them calls to make travel arrangements.
ICE was unable to confirm if all 400 migrants flown to Arizona were released.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...izona/9709925/

ICE releases crowds of undocumented immigrants downtown

Posted: May 28, 2014 9:49 PM PDTUpdated: May 28, 2014 9:49 PM PDTBy JD Wallace - bio | email

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -Hundreds of undocumented immigrants detained as far away as Texas are being released under supervision in Tucson. But getting to their next destination leaves them on their own.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has said that it does not want to put children in detention centers and it dies not want to split up families. ICE releases those families with the condition that they contact ICE for their next court date once they reach their destination in this country.

But last weekend ICE dropped more people at the downtown Greyhound station than there were seats on the buses.

Wednesday afternoon a government van dropped a group of people at the bus station. ICE said that last weekend as many as 400 were left there over the past few days, and that many of them had been stopped in south Texas.

"We've heard through the grapevine that the ICE substations and the Border Patrol substations are absolutely over full and that there's no place for them to put these people. And we've talked to people who were going to Texas, that were trying to make it someplace in Texas, and so they get picked up and driven back to Arizona, and now their family members have to buy them a ticket back to Texas," said Daniel Wilson, a volunteer at Casa Mariposa, which has given some of the stranded families a place to stay for the night.

ICE released this joint statement Wednesday:
"U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Tucson Sector is assisting with the processing of illegal immigrants, many of whom are family units, apprehended in South Texas. Upon completion of processing, CBP is transferring the individuals to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), where appropriate custody determinations will be made in accordance with ICE enforcement priorities."

The families, which are from Mexico and Central America, after they are released, contact those who were waiting for them in this country.

But sometimes the time is too late to get help from those contacts for a bus ticket. Casa Mariposa has been flooded with people needing a place to stay.

"Releasing people without tickets is endangerment to them and its a public health and safety crisis that Tucson needs to deal with," Wilson said.

ICE said that it is adjusting the rate at which it drops people at the station, and Greyhound is bringing more buses and staying open later.

CBP did not have a formal explanation as to why south Texas detainees are being transferred to Tucson. One could be available later this week.

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/25637099/ice-releases-crowds-of-undocumented-immigrants-downtown

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

FROM THE MSM USATODAY

Scores of undocumented migrants dropped off in Arizona

Daniel González,
10:50 a.m. EDT May 29, 2014


(Photo: Michael Chow/The Republic)

PHOENIX — Scores of undocumented immigrants from Central America have been released at Greyhound Lines Inc. bus stations in Tucson and Phoenix over the past several days after they were flown to Arizona from south Texas, officials acknowledged.

Andy Adame, a spokesman for the Border Patrol in Tucson, confirmed that over the weekend federal officials flew about 400 migrants apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to Tucson to be processed. He said the migrants were flown to Arizona because the Border Patrol does not have enough manpower to handle a surge in illegal immigrants in south Texas.

The release has drawn criticism from those on both sides of the immigration issue.

STORY: Police find more than 100 immigrants in stash house
STORY: Sheriffs opt to free suspected undocumented immigrants

Border enforcement groups are concerned that the migrants will now disappear into the U.S., spurring even more to come illegally.

"This is a huge concern," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for more immigration and border enforcement.

"This is exactly the incentive for people to cross the border illegally," he said.

Humanitarian groups are concerned that immigration officials are dropping migrants off at bus stations to fend for themselves without food, water and basic necessities.

Judy Elizabeth Martinez, holding Marjorie, tries to reach family after being released by ICE at a Greyhound Bus station in Phoenix May 28, 2014. She is from Guatemala and was flown from Georgia to Arizona by ICE. The Border Patrol says about 400 migrants were flown from Texas to Arizona because of surge in migrants being apprehended in Texas.(Photo: Michael Chow/The Republic)


"It's not safe healthwise and we are concerned for their physical safety," said Cyndi Whitmore, a volunteer with the Phoenix Restoration Project, an advocacy group that has been going to the bus terminal in Phoenix to help.

She said that Tuesday night she went to the Greyhound station on Buckeye Road and found 50 women and young children who had just been released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Among the children were infants 6 months old.

"Some of the kids were crying," Whitmore said. "Some were infants that weren't fully clothed. They didn't have diapers. They didn't have formula."

Laurie Melrood, a volunteer family advocate in Tucson, said ICE has been dropping off small numbers of migrants at the Greyhound bus station there for about seven months.

But on Monday, she said, ICE dropped off about 70 people, followed by another 90 on Tuesday and at least 60 on Wednesday.

She said all of the migrants dropped off this week were women and children. In the past, most were adult men and women.

"The conditions under which they are released are inadequate and inhumane," she said.

Migrants are released from ICE custody at a Greyhound Bus station in Phoenix May 28, 2014. The Border Patrol says about 400 migrants were flown from Texas to Arizona because of surge in migrants being apprehended in Texas. This group was from Texas and Georgia.(Photo: Michael Chow/The Republic)


In response, volunteers in Phoenix and Tucson have been going to the bus stations to help the migrants make arrangements to buy bus tickets to travel to relatives in other cities. They also have been providing food, water and other necessities.

South Texas is now the main gateway for illegal immigration along the Southwest border with Mexico. Border Patrol arrests in the Tucson Sector have plummeted in recent years but have soared in the Rio Grande Valley. Last fiscal year, Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector apprehended 154,453 immigrants attempting to cross, up from 97,762 the previous year, according to USA TODAY.

ICE officials said the migrants being released are families apprehended by the Border Patrol trying to enter the U.S. illegally. After screening, they are being released under supervision and then required to report to a local ICE office near their destination within 15 days.

Their cases will be managed based on ICE enforcement priorities, which focus on removing criminals who pose a threat as well as recent border crossers and immigration violators.

But Mehlman at FAIR said that once migrants are released, they often disappear and ICE doesn't go looking for them unless they have criminal records.

ICE officials said the agency began transporting migrants to the bus station in Phoenix after Greyhound officials complained the station in Tucson was being overwhelmed.

In response to criticism, the agency started giving migrants sack lunches and allowing them calls to make travel arrangements.
ICE was unable to confirm if all 400 migrants flown to Arizona were released.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...izona/9709925/

why don't you dropped them off at obama & his wife. let them care for them . when usa want help & we don't get any thing
look at what the wh is doing to our guy's & girl's that came home from war not one thing but we are going to help the illegal immigrants come on wake up usa

By Martha Maurer
Originally published: May 29, 2014 - 12:24 pm
ktar

PHOENIX -- Hundreds of immigrants, mainly from Central America who were caught crossing the border in South Texas, are being released in Arizona.

The journey for hundreds of families crossing the border begins in their home country, south of Mexico. When they cross over the border in Texas, they become one of the roughly 1,000 illegal immigrants apprehended in South Texas each day, according to Andy Adame, Special Operations Supervisor for the Border Patrol in Arizona.

"What's happening in the Rio Grande Valley area is they are experiencing a significant increase in the number of Central Americans crossing illegally through that area," he said.

To handle the extreme influx, Tucson Border Patrol is helping with the processing of those immigrants. Over the holiday weekend alone, they received roughly 400 people.

"Central Americans, unlike Mexican citizens, take a lot longer to process," Adame said. "There's a lot more paperwork involved."

In order to process the large number, the Border Patrol in southern Texas is sending plane-loads of people to Tucson.

"Tucson, for the longest time, has been the doormat for illegal immigration into the U.S. from Mexico and Central America," Adame said.

Because of that, Tucson has the manpower and facilities that can handle large numbers of immigrants to process. Adame said illegal immigration apprehensions are down about 24 percent, meaning the load is smaller than in the past, allowing Tucson to help the Rio Grande sector out.

Once the illegal immigrants are processed, they are turned over to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). After Department of Homeland Security authorities screen the family units for criminal records, outstanding warrants or repeat offenders, they are released under supervision, according to ICE. Those who are allowed to go are required to report to a local ICE office near their destination address within 15 days. Their cases will then be managed by ICE.

It's how they are released that is raising eyebrows. Many of the families are allowed to go to their destination, usually somewhere within the United States. ICE confirmed, if they are cleared, some of them are dropped off at Greyhound Bus stations in Tucson and Phoenix. ICE does not cover their fare.

In a statement released to KTAR, ICE explained the process.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Tucson Sector is assisting with the processing of illegal immigrants, many of whom are family units, apprehended in South Texas. Upon completion of processing, CBP is transferring the individuals to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), where appropriate custody determinations will be made in accordance with ICE enforcement priorities.

According to Adame, over the last month and a half, the Border Patrol has received several planes full of illegal immigrants to process them.

http://ktar.com/22/1736560/Hundreds-...zona-bus-stops

Laurie Roberts, columnist | azcentral.com 9:49 a.m. MST May 29, 2014

While the country watches in horror at the way the VA has treated America's veterans, there's another outrage occurring right under our noses.

Scores of undocumented immigrants are being flown to Arizona and dumped at bus stations in Phoenix and Tucson.

By Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It seems the overwhelmed Texas Border Patrol doesn't have the manpower to handle the surge in illegal border crossings in south Texas, so they're exporting immigrants caught trying to sneak into Texas to Arizona, where the immigrants are apparently free to go about their business.

As reported by The Arizona Republic's Daniel Gonzalez, federal officials in recent days have flown in about 400 people who were caught trying to enter the country illegally through the Rio Grande Valley. The people are then dropped at bus stations in Phoenix and Tucson and told to report to a local ICE office within 15 days.

Never mind the inhumanity in dumping people – many of them women and babies – into a strange city where the temperatures are soaring over 100 degrees and they know no one.

Never mind that it seems just absurd to think they're actually going to show up at a local ICE office within 15 days, as directed.

It's a genius plan – if you happen to be a Republican, that is.

While President Obama continues his call for immigration reform and talks about securing the border and his record number of deportations, it seems his interdiction plan these days can be summed up in two words: Go Greyhound.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/lauri...izona/9719377/

They shouldn't have released them.

But since they did they should have just taken them to the bus station in Texas

and saved the cost of flying them to Arizona.

Probably part of Jeh Johnson's plan to relieve overcrowding in SW TX. He visited TX last week and was appalled at 1000+ in a facility for 300, especially with now quarantine space for the sick. Sp, what is he distributing, the healthy or the sick? America needs to know!! Ask your Congress person before an epidemic begins in your neighborhood!

US releases hundreds of migrants due to lack of space in detention centers
Fox News Latino
Hundreds of undocumented immigrants detained in Texas are being freed under supervision in Arizona because the detention centers in the Lone ...

by Kristin Tate 29 May 2014, 12:14 PM PDT
breitbart



The surge in immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally has caused a federal resource crisis and prompted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release large numbers of aliens on a regular basis. In Tucson, waves of released illegal immigrants have reportedly been crowding a bus station after being flown there via plane by ICE.

The Monitor reported that earlier this week, over 100 illegal immigrants were "left to their own devices" at a Tucson-based Greyhound station. U.S. officials "released them on their own recognizance" from Border Patrol sectors in Arizona and South Texas.

Most of the released immigrants subsequently hopped buses headed for cities around the country.

Sylvia Longmire, Breitbart Texas contributing editor and border security expert, said that releasing individuals at bus stations "is a common tactic for ICE as a way to both alleviate the burden on local communities where these immigrants initially cross into and a way to discourage illegal immigrants from either staying in the US or crossing the border in the first place."

Laurie Melrood, a volunteer at the Tucson Greyhound station, told The Monitor, "The sheer volume of people being released is staggering. On a holiday weekend most of the buses are already booked. To release this many women and children without tickets or even information on how to purchase tickets is clearly a health and safety threat to an already vulnerable population."

Since the Tucson bus station reportedly closes around 11:30 p.m., many people are left without a place to stay the night while they wait for a ticket. Melrood and other volunteers regularly provide the released immigrants with food, water, and shelter.

Although ICE has reportedly been dropping off illegal immigrants at the Tucson bus station for about eight months, the number has recently increased as illegal immigration has surged along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The problem is especially pronounced in Texas's Rio Grande Valley (RVG) where Border Patrol agents are apprehending about 1,000 illegal immigrants per day.

The RVG has been so overwhelmed, in fact, that 100 illegal immigrants were recently transported via plane to El Paso for processing. Many others are routinely sent to the Greyhound bus station.

"The problem is that now a south Texas issue has become a southern Arizona issue and will become a west Texas issue or wherever ICE decides to dump the next group of illegal immigrants," Longmire said. "It's clear DHS is not adequately prepared to deal with this surge, which it should have been if it had been properly analyzing country conditions in Central America that led to this mass exodus in the first place. Shifting the logistical burden to other border sectors may temporarily help one area of the border, but eventually many U.S. communities are going to pay the price for these band-aid policies."

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-T...ties-Across-US

Scores of illegal immigrants, caught by authorities in Texas trying to sneak into the country via the Rio Grande Valley, are being flown, bused and then abandoned in places like Arizona, New York and Maryland . . .

http://www.alipac.us/f12/officials-u...ts-u-s-303697/