WASHINGTON : United States (US) authorities are transferring into federal prisons about 1,600 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees in the first large-scale use of federal prisons to hold detainees amid a Trump administration crackdown on people entering the country illegally. An ICE spokeswoman said that five federal prisons would temporarily take in detainees awaiting civil immigration court hearings, including potential asylum seekers, with one prison in Victorville, California, preparing to house 1,000 people. US President Donald Trump made his hard-line stance on immigration an integral part of his presidency and promised to build a wall along the US-Mexican border to stem the flow of migrants. He also promised to keep immigrants targeted for deportation locked up “pending the outcome of their removal proceedings”. Under former president Barack Obama, many immigrants without serious criminal records were allowed to await their court dates while living in the US....