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After President Donald Trump took office in January, federal immigration agents increased the number of requests they made to local police and jails to keep people in their custody. But researchers who track this data say the government has stopped providing information on what happened to those immigrants.
In March, the latest month available, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement prepared 13,971 "detainers," according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse in Syracuse. That's 31.7 percent more than in January. But the number is still lower than in March 2014, when former President Barack Obama's administration was relying heavily on this type of requests.
The detainers ask local police and jails to keep immigrants in their custody for up to 48 extra hours so they can be transferred to federal custody and potentially deported.
Of requests received in February and March, California received the most, according to the clearinghouse. New York ranked fifth, with 1,070. Of that number, counties declined to honor 21 percent and complied with 30 percent. ICE did not know what happened to the rest. Sanctuary cities like New York were most likely to refuse the requests.
But after March, the clearinghouse said the government stopped providing the data and any other information about why immigrants were wanted, and whether they were actually deported.
"They're now refusing to provide any information about whether the individuals have been arrested or convicted of anything," said Sue Long, a Syracuse University professor and co-founder of the records clearinghouse.
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