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Across the nation hundreds of illegal immigrant were released Tuesday from detention centers, amid budget concerns tied to Friday's sequestration deadline.
The released individuals remain in removal proceedings, according to USA Today, and will likely land in a variety of supervised release programs, with the possibility of electronic monitoring.
Financial uncertainty made the release necessary in order to meet budget, Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told USA Today in a statement. Specifically, that means the looming $87 billion in automatic cuts due to kick in Friday, if the Obama administration and Congress cannot come to an agreement regarding federal spending and the debt ceiling.
USA Today reported ICE's current budget allows for a capacity of 34,000 people in custody. Gonzalez said that detention priority was given to "serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety."
