Hundreds of Immigrant Detainees Return To Families

A Greyhound bus station near the Phoenix airport is the first stop for many immigrants released from immigration detention centers in Arizona. Taxi driver Henry Williams works here most evenings. He says it’s normal to see a few people dropped off from immigration detention centers on a nightly basis, but last weekend was unusual. “This Saturday it was humongous, there was three busloads,” Williams said. That’s because starting late last week, ICE released certain detainees who weren’t a priority for detention. The 300 released in Arizona accounted for about 12 percent of the detained population in the state. “I took one who got released on Saturday,” Williams said. “We took him all the way to Fresno, California.” That’s an eight and a half hour drive. Williams said the customer didn’t have much money on him, but his family paid the fare of $1,400 in cash when they arrived. Many immigrants detained here in Arizona don’t have ties to the state, and are trying to get to other parts of the country...more