Washington, Aug 16 (PTI): At least 68 Indian nationals have been taken into custody at a detention center near Seattle in the US state of Washington for allegedly crossing into the country illegally, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department has said.

Of them, about half were detained in the last one month while they tried to sneak illegally into the United States from across the border, said Satnam Singh Chahal, the director of US-based North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) that obtained the information from the ICE.

Most of them hail from Punjab, he said.

At present 68 Indians are in custody at its contract detention center in Tacoma, the ICE's western regional spokesperson Virginia Kice said.

While their arrest dates vary widely, majority of them were taken into custody this year and about half were arrested in the last 30 days, she said.

When undocumented immigrants move through government-run detention centers in the US, it can take months before they find out if they'll be deported or allowed to stay in the country, Chahal said.

During this long wait, many become frustrated, he said.