Surprise: Those hundreds of detainees ICE released were actually thousands

Brett T. | 6:24 PM on March 01, 2013

ICE tells CNN it's released 2000 immigrants from detention since Feb. Cautions only part of that due to budget cuts. Others ebb and flow.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 1, 2013

Remember how surprised Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was to hear that hundreds of illegal immigrants had been released from detention due to sequestration cuts that hadn’t yet been made? Imagine how surprised she must be this afternoon, as the Associated Press reports that more than 2,000 detainees were released last month because of the impending budget cuts, and another 3,000 were to be set loose this month before “intense criticism” set in.

AP Exclusive: Gov't freed more than 2,000 immigrants from jail since Feb., planned 3,000 more. http://t.co/6CdKJiZbCb

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) March 1, 2013

The AP reports:

The budget documents show that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement released roughly 1,000 illegal immigrants from its jails around the U.S. each week since at least Feb. 15. The agency’s field offices have reported more than 2,000 released before intense criticism this week led to a temporary shutdown of the plan.

The states where immigrants were released include Arizona, California, Georgia and Texas.

The White House has said it was not consulted about the releases, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has acknowledged they occurred in a manner she regrets.