AZMEX I3 30 MAY 2014
Phoenix humanitarian group work to help influx of immigrants released by ICE
By Mac & Gaydos
Originally published: May 29, 2014 - 6:16 pm
http://ktar.com/95/1736675/Phoenix-humanitarian-group-work-to-help-influx-of-immigrants-released-by-ICE
This week, hundreds of immigrants who were caught while attempting to cross the Mexico-Texas border are being released in Phoenix by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A local humanitarian group has been working to deal with the consequences of it all.
A guest on 92.3 KTAR's Mac & Gaydos on Thursday, Cyndi Whitmore of the Phoenix Restoration Project helped explain the alarming magnitude and intricacies of the situation.
"What we're seeing is an influx of families -- primarily women -- but there are also some fathers with young children, ranging from six months to 12 years of age, that have been released in Phoenix this week," Whitmore explained. "I think Tuesday night was the first time we've seen this happen in Phoenix, but it's been happening in Tucson for some time."
Whitmore, a volunteer with the organization -- which is comprised of others like herself, lacking a 501(c)(3) exemption status -- explained that the immigrants are left at Greyhound stations without bus tickets, food and water. Parents are not given diapers or formula for their children.
"(On Wednesday night), I'd say we had between 50 and 75 and there have already been 100 people released today and we anticipate that more will come today," she said.
According to Whitmore, ICE has long held this practice.
"This is something that happens all over the country," she went on. "When people are released from detention, if they're not local (to) the detention center that they're being released from -- and most of the time they're not -- ICE doesn't, whether they win their case or are released on their own recognizance or posted on bond, transfer them back to where they were picked up or where they were going."
But it's the newer look of the dropoffs that has Whitmore troubled.
"This is actually nothing new; What's new is that we're seeing families with young children.
"Phoenix Restoration Project (has been) responding to this humanitarian need for some time," she said. "We're just used to dealing with smaller numbers of adult men and women being released."
As for the influx in the Phoenix-area dropoffs, Whitmore is as baffled as the rest of the city.
"It's really counter-intuitive that most of these people that need help so far, almost everyone has been headed to the midwest or the east coast -- that's where they're supposed to report in 15 days," she said.
Again, why Arizona? Why Phoenix?
"I'd love to know the answer to that," she said.
But no matter what state the immigrants were detained in, Whitmore holds a belief that it's the duty of all to assist their fellow human beings.
"Regardless of where people are being held in detention centers or where they're being released, it's all of our problem," she said.
"Whether they were detained at the Arizona border or the Texas border, they need help."
And just days into the sudden spike in dropoffs, Whitmore said that help has come.
"We've seen an amazing initial response from the community," she said.
But Phoenix Restoration Project says they could always use more assistance, whether from the general public, other non-government organizations, faith-based charities or otherwise.
END
Undocumented immigrant surge strains humanitarian group
by Mike Watkiss
azfamily.com
Posted on May 29, 2014 at 7:40 PM
Updated today at 7:43 PM
http://www.azfamily.com/news/Surge-in-undocumented-immigrants-strains-humanitarian-group-261187741.html
PHOENIX -- Dozens of people who entered the United States illegally were transported to Phoenix this week by federal immigration authorities.
The immigrants were brought to Arizona from Texas and dropped off at the Greyhound bus terminal at 24th Street and Buckeye Road in Phoenix.
"Beginning on Tuesday we started seeing families dropped off including children most under the age of five, some as young as three to six months old," said Cyndi Whitmore with the immigrant help group Phoenix Restoration Project.
The undocumented immigrants from Central America were caught crossing the border in south Texas where illegal entry into the U.S. is reportedly surging.
In response, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement transported more than 400 people, who passed screening tests, to Arizona.
The immigrants were then dropped at the Greyhound bus stations in Phoenix and Tucson.
"They're now being released on their own recognizance which means given authorization to travel and reunite with family members in the United States," said Leah Sarat with the Phoenix Restoration Project.
One man was caught crossing the border in Texas with his wife and four daughters. He said he was escaping violence in his home country of Honduras. He said he is trying to get to Houston where his mother-in-law lives and he has a job waiting for him.
CPB and ICE released a statement that reads in part, "The family units will be released under supervision and required to report in to a local ICE office near their destination address within 15 days, where their cases will be managed in accordance with current ICE enforcement priorities."
END
Feds transfer hundreds of illegal immigrants from Texas to AZ
Posted: May 29, 2014 6:02 PM PDT
Updated: May 29, 2014 6:57 PM PDT
By Jason Barry -
PHOENIX (CBS5) -
http://www.kpho.com/story/25647060/feds-transfer-hundreds-of-illegal-immigrants-from-texas-to-az
A sudden wave of undocumented immigrants has been showing up at the Phoenix Greyhound Bus station, and federal agents are the ones bringing them in.
MORE
ICE releases crowds of undocumented immigrants downtown
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.
Continue reading >>
"They had been releasing people through Tucson, but the bus station didn't have the capacity to hold so many people,"said Leah Sarat, a volunteer helping the illegal immigrants. "Just in the last few days we've been seeing upwards of 70 to 80 people within a 24-hour period."
"We're concerned about the condition they're in, said Cyndi Whitmore, with the Phoenix Restoration Project. "After being released, they have very little provisions. They don't have food, water, diapers and formula."
The unexpected guests were among the roughly 400 undocumented immigrants apprehended in Texas, then sent to Arizona for processing this week.
Federal officials said that Texas was overwhelmed with undocumented immigrants over the Memorial Day weekend, so many of them were shipped out.
The U.S. Immigration and Enforcement Office released this statement.
"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."
"After screening by DHS authorities, the family units will be released under supervision and required to report in to a local ICE office near their destination address within 15 days, where their cases will be managed in accordance with current ICE enforcement priorities."
CBS 5 spoke to a man from Honduras, who is now in Phoenix with his wife and children.
He said that he is seeking political asylum, because of violence back home.
Authorities said that since many of the undocumented immigrants are from Central America, and not Mexico, they cannot be immediately deported.
They have been released to reunite with families in the U.S., while awaiting their court date.
A number of anti illegal immigration groups believe the latest wave of undocumented immigrants will pave the way for countless others to cross our border.
Glenn Spencer is president of American Border patrol, a non-profit group that's pushing for border security.
"I would expect a surge across the Texas border and expect to see a lot more of this," said Spencer."If you are living in Central America in tough conditions, all you have to do is get across the Rio Grande River and you are going to do it. I think it sends the wrong message."
END
ICE releases crowds of undocumented immigrants downtown
Posted: May 28, 2014 9:49 PM PDT
Updated: May 29, 2014 8:50 PM PDT
By JD Wallace -
http://www.kpho.com/story/25637099/ice-releases-crowds-of-undocumented-immigrants-downtown
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 does 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.
The Greyhound bus station in downtown Tucson was much quieter Thursday than earlier in the week, according to one of the volunteers who helped the people who were dropped off there by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The families that have been left there are from Central America and were picked up by U.S. Border Patrol in south Texas, then flown to Tucson for processing by the U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona.
Wednesday about 50 people total were dropped at the downtown Greyhound bus station by ICE, according to the volunteer who was there to help the people get bus tickets or to find a place to stay. A few families were taken in by volunteers Wednesday night. The families are not considered a threat to the country, and instead of putting children in detention centers or splitting up their families, ICE has been releasing them under supervision. Such a release requires that they get to their reported destination and contact ICE within fifteen days. They will have a court date to determine their future in the country, or if they are to return to their country of origin.
A U.S. Border Patrol spokesman said that Texas facilities have been full from a large amount of people from Central America. Three planes carried about 400 people from Texas to Tucson over the weekend. They were already verified to not have criminal records here. But they still needed to be processed further. Because Arizona has seen a continued drop in illegal immigration, its Border Patrol office has the capacity to aid Texas.
Once Border Patrol has collected the individuals' information, they are then handed over to ICE, which then determines whether to put them in a detention center or to release them under supervision.
"As is, what was the case this weekend, they sent us about 400 unprocessed, undocumented central Americans. What we did here, we received them here at the Tucson airport, we shipped them over to our detention facilities, and we processed them. We processed them, and we turned them over to ICE," said U.S. Border Patrol agent Andy Adame.
Last weekend, so many were dropped off that greyhound didn't have enough buses, or it was too late for families to get help from the people they were planning to meet originally in other parts of the country. Those people were stranded in Tucson for the night. The Greyhound office stayed open overnight Wednesday, according to the volunteer who was helping those who might be stranded.
ICE says it's working to change the pace of releases to avoid that problem in the future.
If and when more detainees could be sent to Tucson is unknown.
END
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