(Burlington, Ky.) - More than 30 illegal immigrants have been released from the Boone County Jail this week.

The Department of Homeland Security let the suspects go on Tuesday and Wednesday, Boone County Jailer Ed Prindle told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Hundreds of immigrants nationwide have been released this week ahead of mandatory federal spending cuts taking affect, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials told the Associated Press.

Gillian Christensen, an ICE spokeswoman, said ICE has reviewed several hundred cases of immigrants being held in jails around the country and released them in the last week. They have been "placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release," she said.

The Boone County Jail houses about 160 immigration detainees. Prindle told the Enquirer that the federal government pays the county to hold the detainees. The money generated helps the county offset the cost of housing its own criminals.