A report from Syracuse University reveals that as of January 28, 2024, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers reached a record level under President Joe Biden’s administration, with approximately 38,500 migrants in custody .
This number has constantly increased 5% in recent months, compared to the 36,755 detainees reported on December 3, the Efe news agency cited. The rising numbers represent an increase in the population of immigrants detained by the United States Department of Homeland Security agency.
According to a report from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, detention centers in Texas have the highest average daily inmate population for fiscal year 2024, which began October 1.
The Family Residential Center in Dilley leads with an average of 1,810 immigrants detained daily. Followed by Pearsall Jail, which detains 1,657 foreigners per day. These numbers highlight the state governed by Greg Abbott as a focal point for the detention of aliens.
Of the 25,972 individuals detained by ICE, 67.5% have no criminal record. The agency’s Alternatives to Detention programs are monitoring about 189,780 individuals or families who entered alone, according to data from January 27.
Since May 12, 2023, Joe Biden’s administration has expelled or returned more than 500,000 migrants, mostly from the southwest border, surpassing annual expulsion numbers during former President Trump’s term from 2017 to 2021, the agency noted. of news.
Activists denounce increase in violence
Activists on the border between Juárez and El Paso reported an increase in threats and violence against migrants entering the United States, Efe reported. They condemned the cross-border situation as inhumane, fearing it could worsen after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the deployment of 1,000 troops.
Activists attribute the increasing aggression of the Texas National Guard to anti-immigrant rhetoric ahead of the US elections on November 2. At the same time, President Joe Biden is considering closing the border with Mexico, a Republican demand, while the Senate considers funding Ukraine, linking it to mitigate the migration crisis.
Ernesto Vasconcelos, a litigator specialized in immigration issues, told the news agency that the escalation of violence by the National Guard, positioned on the border between northern Mexico and Texas in the south of the country, is being encouraged by political rhetoric.
“We have Donald Trump who has said that if he were to win he would support the governor of Texas more to put more barbed wire and more National Guard on the border and thus intimidate immigrants so that they do not cross. On the other hand, Joe Biden assures that he will treat migrants with more respect, but we have not seen it during his administration,” he said, as quoted by Efe.
And he added: “It is important to consider the situations of the people who come in a situation of migration, the measures that the United States has taken to retain in such a harsh and aggressive way, it seems to me that it is not a way to counteract the same thing that they are generating.”
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• Mexicans, mainly affected: Canada announced that it will limit the arrival of asylum seekers
• They denounce an increase in threats and violence against migrants in Ciudad Juárez and El Paso