The Bush administration has begun to comply with last month's Supreme Court decision ordering the release of Mariel convicts in indefinite detention.

By ALFONSO CHARDY

In response to last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling, federal officials have released nearly 150 people who came to the United States from Cuba in the 1980 Mariel boatlift and later were convicted of crimes.

About 600 more Mariel convicts remain in prisons and jails nationwide, along with more than 100 non-Cuban detainees, said Manny Van Pelt, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C.

Most are expected to be released over the next few months in response to the high court's Jan. 12 order that expanded prohibitions against indefinite detention for foreign nationals who are convicted of U.S. crimes but cannot be deported.

''We have started releasing the individuals, and we are moving forward now with the release of those persons who are affected'' by the ruling, Van Pelt said. Monday was the first time the federal government has announced any releases under the court order.

Van Pelt said some of the releases were in the Miami area, but he had no specifics.

Overall, a federal official familiar with the issue said at least 147 Mariel detainees had been released.

Of the 600 or so still in detention, at least 20 were in the Miami area and another 74 in Tampa and Orlando, the official said. He would not say precisely where they were being held, but South Florida officials had previously said several Mariel refugees were being held at Krome detention center in West Miami-Dade County.

The rest of the Mariel detainees who will be released are scattered in detention centers around the country, from Atlanta to Washington state. The largest contingents are in New Orleans and Chicago, followed by Philadelphia, Newark, Denver and Atlanta, the federal official said.

The Mariel boatlift began in April 1980, after six Cubans crashed through the gates of the Peruvian embassy in Havana and thousands gathered there, demanding asylum.

Cuban President Fidel Castro eventually allowed U.S. exiles to pick up their families at the port of Mariel, but he also used the exodus as a way to send some of Cuba's criminals to the United States.

Last month's ruling was a sequel to a 2001 decision in which the Supreme Court held that foreign nationals who cannot be deported because their countries won't take them back cannot be held in detention indefinitely.

However, the 2001 ruling had suggested an exception for foreign nationals classified as ''inadmissible'' or ''excludable'' upon arrival in the U.S. -- as were tens of thousands of Mariel refugees.

''Inadmissible'' foreign nationals are technically defined as having been stopped at the U.S. border..

Most Mariel immigrants eventually were allowed to get green cards, and many obtained citizenship.

But those who were convicted of crimes in the United States remained ''inadmissible'' and thus were denied full due process rights and held indefinitely. In last month's ruling, the court struck down that interpretation as well.

It said excludables and inadmissibles must also be released if they cannot be deported within a reasonable period of time, generally given as six months.

The court said that in some cases, the government would be authorized to continue holding detainees who were deemed extremely dangerous to the community.

Van Pelt said each release is reviewed ''on a case-by-case basis.'' He would not say if any of the more than 600 still in detention would be held back.

He said, however, that the detainees included ''murderers and rapists'' that the government has long been unwilling to release.

In all the cases covered by the ruling, the detainees have served their sentences but remained in immigration custody pending deportation because their countries would not take them back.

''We firmly do not believe that they represent or reflect on the Cuban community at large,'' said Van Pelt. ``We're just simply complying with the Supreme Court's decision. Despite their histories, the court has mandated that we release them.''

Van Pelt said the government will still deport Mariel convicts released under the Jan. 12 ruling once Cuba agrees to take them back.

''It remains our intent to remove them from the United States as soon as the opportunity presents itself,'' Van Pelt said.