Jailed Immigrants Get Hope for Release
U.S. officials Friday gave hope of release to thousands of immigrants who have completed prison sentences for U.S. crimes but face indefinite detention by immigration authorities because they cannot be returned to their homelands.
The detentions were mandated by a tough 1996 U.S. law that forces the deportation of all noncitizens who commit crimes in the country.
About 4,000 people from countries such as Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos cannot be deported because their homelands will not accept them.
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service said no one considered a threat to public safety will be released.
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