Harris, Hidalgo counties top May list of inmates with immigration detainers in Texas county jails

Harris, Hidalgo and Travis County jails together accounted for 39% of the inmates with immigration detainers housed in Texas County jails for the month of May 2019, reported the Texas Commission On Jail Standards.

In its report dated July 18, 2019 4728 inmates with immigration detainers were housed for a total count of 101,124 inmate days in Texas County jails for the month of May. Topping the list of county jails housing the most inmates with immigration detainers were Harris, Hidalgo and Travis counties with 976, 544 and 343 inmates respectively.

Harris, Dallas and Hidalgo counties were the top three counties with 1095, 862 and 569 inmates respectively on the April  2019 report.

As noted in the report, Texas Senate Bill 1698 authored by former State Senator Tommy Williams became law following the 82nd regular session. SB 1698 mandated the reporting of the total number of inmates with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers housed in jails under the Commission’s purview as part of the monthly population report.

The complete list of Texas county jails, number of inmates with ICE detainers and number of inmate days for the month of May 2019 can be found here. 

Congolese migrant families destined for Florida, Texas and other U.S. cities

Three Florida and two Texas cities are among the 16 destinations of Congolese migrant families who arrived in San Antonio, Texas the first week of June.

A June 15 Washington Examiner story by Anna Giaritelli reported the details of the migrant’s arrival and with an assist from KENS5 reporter Jaleesa Irizarry includes destinations of the Congolese families as obtained from the City of San Antonio:

“SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Roughly 300 Congolese and Angolan citizens who arrived in San Antonio the first week of June after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border days earlier have all briskly departed the city for destinations across the country, some with fuzzy plans based partly on hope.

The hundreds of family members and single adults from Central Africa first showed up June 4 at the southern border’s Eagle Pass and Del Rio towns in south-central Texas. The migrants surrendered to Border Patrol agents and claimed asylum after crossing the Rio Grande.

The agency did not, as it is supposed to, turn families over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Instead, it released families onto the streets of Eagle Pass and Del Rio, according to two government and nongovernment officials with first-hand knowledge of the matter. The African migrants then bought bus tickets to either San Antonio or Austin, according to San Antonio Interim Assistant City Manager Colleen Bridger.”

https://twitter.com/JaleesaReports/status/1138935801100865536

Last week County Examiner published details from a March 12, 2019 presentation by the International Rescue Committee (IRC)  of the stress felt on Florida’s’ educational system, especially in the parts of Florida with Congolese refugees who’ve never attended school.

“A second presentation by Ms. Bilic from International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Comprehensive Refugee Services provider in the NW Region, Leon County followed up with this:

The educational system is feeling the stress with so many refugees in a few schools while working with those who have never attended school before while in refugee camps.”

Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach County school districts are home to the cities of Miami, Orlando and Boynton Beach, Florida. Dallas and Travis County are home to the cities of Dallas and Austin, Texas. 

Boynton Beach, Florida appears to be a new placement city for Congolese refugees. Reports generated from the Refugee Processing Center no DRC refugees were placed in Boynton Beach between January 1, 2015 through May, 2019.

Since January 2015, 5057 Congolese refugees were placed in 22 Texas cities with Houston and Fort Worth topping the list.