US releases immigrant families, won't say how many

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) —The Obama administration has released into the U.S. an untold number of immigrant families caught traveling illegally from Central America in recent months —and although the government knows how many it's released, it won't say publicly.

Senior U.S. officials directly familiar with the issue, including at the Homeland Security Department and White House, have so far dodged the answer on at least seven occasions over two weeks, alternately saying that they did not know the figure or didn't have it immediately at hand. "We will get back to you," the Homeland Security deputy secretary said Friday.

The figure is widely believed to exceed 40,000 since October. It's believed to be slightly below the roughly 52,000 children caught traveling illegally from Central America over the same period, an extraordinary increase since last year that is driving a humanitarian crisis at the border.

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Most of the immigrant families are from Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala and cannot be immediately repatriated, so the government has been releasing them into the U.S. interior and telling them to report within 15 days to the nearest U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement offices.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-releases-immigrant-families-wont-say-how-many