ICE Considering Moving Detainees Into Albuquerque Jail

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.(AP) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is reconsidering its July decision to pull about 700 detainees from a downtown Albuquerque jail.

An agency spokeswoman, Leticia Zamarripa, says ICE is considering moving a limited number of detainees back into the Regional Correctional Center early next year.

The lockup is owned by Bernalillo County and run by Cornell Companies, which pays the county 1.5 million dollars a year to lease the jail.

ICE transferred all its detainees from the jail to other holding facilities around the United States because of what the agency called serious incidents.

The agency has declined to identify the incidents. The jail currently has less than 200 prisoners — all in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)