Since the prison disturbances by Mariel Cuban detainees last fall, the government has released more than 1,000 of the detainees into halfway houses or with family sponsors in communities, the Justice Department announced Friday. One of the triggers to last year's uprisings at federal prisons in Atlanta and Oakdale, La., was the fact that the government was taking so long to place them in halfway houses once they were deemed eligible for release, according to legal advocates for the detainees. Federal officials said they were having trouble finding halfway house space for the detainees. From last June until the time the prison riots erupted in November, the Immigration and Naturalization Service had released 106 Cuban inmates to halfway houses or to family sponsors. A total of 1,047 have been placed since the disturbances. INS has approved 2,224 Cuban detainees for release since last June, of whom 1,337 have been approved since the riots. Parole has been denied to 1,193 Mariel Cubans and 845 of the denials have been decided since the uprisings. When the riots broke out, there were about 7,600 Cuban detainees in various facilities. The Justice Department also announced it plans to repatriate 14 Mariel Cubans, the first group of detainees designated for return to Cuba since the prison disturbances. The 14, in federal custody since completing prison sentences for crimes committed in the United States, have been notified that the INS intends to send them back, the Justice Department said. Those in the group to be repatriated have been convicted of crimes including voluntary manslaughter, armed robbery, attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping and attempted rape. The repatriation process will include a review of their cases by a Justice Department review panel under an agreement which ended the rioting at Atlanta and Oakdale. Those facing repatriation will be given the opportunity to submit additional information on their behalf to the Justice Department review panels, which specifically exclude immigration officers.
