YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Dozens of immigrants arrested in Detroit over the weekend will be taken to a detention center in Youngstown pending possible deportation.

WDIV Local 4 reports many of the individuals detained are Chaldean Christians, immigrants who came to the U.S. from Iraq and that many have criminal convictions. 

Families tell the NBC News affiliate that they're concerned their loved ones would be persecuted by ISIS if they're deported back to Iraq.

21 News reached out to ICE for comment regarding the timing of the detentions of those individuals and was provided this response:

"As a result of recent negotiations between the U.S. and Iraq, Iraq has recently agreed to accept a number of Iraqi nationals subject to orders of removal. As part of ICE's efforts to process the backlog of these individuals, the agency recently arrested a number of Iraqi nationals, all of whom had criminal convictions for crimes including homicide, rape, aggravated assault, kidnapping, burglary, drug trafficking, robbery, sex assault, weapons violations and other offenses."

ICE states that the individuals detained received full and fair immigration proceedings where a federal immigration judge determined they were ineligible for any form of relief. 

An immigration attorney out of Akron and Dearborn, Michigan, says some relatives are reaching out to him for help, but for many it may be too late.

"As far as I can tell, most of these people have orders of deportation already, so those arguments of persecution in their home country should have already been made in their deportation trial," Richard Herman said, with Herman Legal Group.

WDIV reports the majority of the detainees will be held at CoreCivic Corrections center in Youngstown, which is formerly known as the CCA facility.

CoreCivic received a new federal contract in December of 2016 to house up to 500 federal detainees as part of its U.S. Immigration and Customs program.

Youngstown's mayor says he's looking into how many individuals will be held in the city and if they fit within the agreed upon level of detainee allowed at the corrections center.

"I've got a couple things to worry about," McNally said. "I want people employed and so that requires detainees or prisoners to be housed in facilities, I want the employees to be safe, so we have to make sure everybody's living up to the obligations under agreements between CoreCivic and the city."

The U.S. has an agreement with Iraq to accept its nationals back into the war-torn country.

McNally is waiting to see how this wave of arrests will work into the Trump administration's overall approach to handling immigration enforcement. He says he's reached out to his contacts at CoreCivic, but has yet to hear back. 

Stay with 21 News for more on this developing story.