Thousands of Family Units Released as Border Patrol Hits Capacity

Asylum-seekers wait at a Greyhound bus station in El Paso, Texas, after being dropped off by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, on Dec. 23, 2018. PAUL RATJE/AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—As family units pour into the United States, immigration authorities are being forced to release thousands of them into the country within days, as detention space is overwhelmed.

In the past two months, Border Patrol has apprehended more than 102,000 family units and unaccompanied minors along the Southwest border.