Undocumented immigrants from Haiti are being released from detention facilities because of a lack of space, according to a report from Fox News Latino. Federal officials say that Haitian undocumented immigrants, who have been entering the US during the last year, are being released. This is in spite of the previous pledge to keep them imprisoned until deportation proceedings could begin.
According to the report, releasing the Haitian immigrants is likely to increase the backlog of over 500,000 cases currently before the immigration courts. Immigrants often have to wait many years before a judge decides their future in the country. The Associated Press reports that a US government official revealed a lack of detention space was the reason behind the decision to let the Haitians arriving in California and Arizona go free.
The San Ysidro port of entry in San Diego received around 5000 Haitian immigrants between October 2015 and September 2016. Officials claim that another 40,000 immigrants are on their way. Officials say that it is only when detention space is limited, when trying not to separate families, or under some humanitarian conditions, that the situation arises where immigrants are released with orders to report back later.
Haitians are given national security and criminal background checks before release. The typical population of immigration detention centers is between 31,000 to 34,000 people, but it is currently sitting at 41,000, according to the Department of Homeland Security.