HispanicBusiness

Texas Gov. Rick Perry released a statement Monday decrying the release of undocumented immigrants by the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In the form of a letter to ICE Director John Morton, Perry called for a list of information on detainees who were released, according to a news release from Perry's office.

It is unknown how many undocumented immigrants have been released, though The Associated Press reported the number could be in the thousands.

"The release of criminal aliens into our communities by ICE is unconscionable. This action far surpasses the grandstanding Americans have come to associate with sequestration talks by potentially jeopardizing the safety of 26 million Texans -- safety the federal government already compromises by falling short on border security," Perry writes in the letter.

Perry called the release of undocumented immigrants a "federally sponsored jailbreak."

Despite repeated requests from his office, Perry said he has received no response regarding the "number of detainees released, their countries of origin, locations where these individuals have been released, and the reasons they were detained."

In the letter, Perry called upon the Obama administration to take responsibility for border security, instead of leaving states "to deal with the ramifications of a porous and insecure border. At the very minimum, law-abiding citizens should not have to look over their shoulders because this administration seems more concerned with putting criminals on the streets than with taking them off."