By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
More than 52,000 migrants detained by ICE are currently being held in facilities across the country as part of President Trump’s ongoing crackdown on undocumented immigrants, BuzzFeed reports.
The surge of migrants at the southern border has prompted ICE to request more space to handle the influx.
The increase in detentions “have a direct correlation to border crossings,” an ICE official said.
Under the Obama administration, the population in ICE custody was around 35,000.
Activists said the latest detention figures are alarming.
“What the administration is doing is operating entirely outside of the constraints imposed on them by Congress by jailing more and more people every week to now hit a breathtaking record,” said Heidi Altman, director of policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center. “The administration knows very well that this is needless cruelty and there are better alternatives that work and are cheaper and more humane.”
