.................................................................

Department of Homeland Security has started releasing hundreds of illegal  immigrants held in local jails in anticipation of automatic budget cuts, in a  move one Arizona sheriff called politically motivated — and dangerous.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Tuesday that Immigration and Customs  Enforcement released more than 500 detainees in his county alone over the  weekend. A spokesman for Babeu told FoxNews.com that ICE officials have said  they plan to release a total of nearly 10,000 illegal immigrants.

The numbers, though, are in dispute. ICE officials said that it’s unclear how  many ultimately might be released and that only 303 have been released from four  Arizona facilities so far, though all those are in Pinal County. According to  ICE, 2,280 detainees are still in custody in those facilities.

Babeu described the move as a “mass budget pardon” and suggested the  administration was going to unnecessary lengths to demonstrate the impact of the  so-called sequester.

“President Obama would never release 500 criminal illegals to the streets of  his hometown, yet he has no problem with releasing them in Arizona. The safety  of the public is threatened and the rule of law discarded as a political tactic  in this sequester battle,” he said.

An ICE spokeswoman confirmed the plans without specifying how many illegal  immigrants might be released.

Read more: http://cowboybyte.com/19373/dhs-releasing-hundreds-of-illegal-immig...