Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced Wednesday the government will release immigrant families with strong asylum claims from detention centers more quickly if they pay the "appropriate bond" or meet other release conditions, reports the Houston Chronicle.

Johnson toured an immigrant detention center in Karnes County, Texas last week. He concluded that substantial changes are needed in the detention practices.

"In short, once a family has established eligibility for asylum or other relief under our laws, long-term detention is an inefficient use of our resources and should be discontinued," he said.

In interviews last month, migrant women who languished in detention centers for months said the time with no defined end had left them despondent and their children worried and confused. Last week, several mothers who had been in the centers for six months or more were granted bond and released.

But not everyone agrees with the new bond process.

"They don't say it directly, but it appears they've got new algorithm for determining bonds. They say it may take into consideration the ability to pay," said Jonathan Ryan, executive director of the Texas-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. "How many thousands of dollars can an impoverished woman fleeing domestic violence, persecution be expected to pay for her freedom?"

Lawyers who volunteer in the Texas detention centers claim that without legal advice, migrants will probably not pass the initial interviews for bond or asylum.

Johnson told the New York Times that Homeland Security officials are working on measures to ensure legal counsel for migrants.

Once released from a detention center, parents and children have to leave the U.S. In order to pursue their asylum claims in immigration courts outside of the country, they need to be sponsored by a relative living legally in the U.S., according to the New York Times.

Last year, about 100,000 Central American women and children crossed the border in the Rio Grande Valley, forcing ICE to expand the 500-bed detention center in Karnes County and built a 2,400-bed center in Dilley, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Although the overall numbers of illegal migrants at the southwest border have decreased from last year, nearly 21,000 parents with children were apprehended since October. For that reason, Johnson is not ready to close down the family centers.

Johnson said the "continued use of family residential centers will allow for prompt removal of individuals who have not stated a claim for relief under our laws."