Mass Deportations Coming for Jailed Illegal Immigrants
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The U.S. Homeland Security department has launched an ambitious nationwide effort that would cost $2 billion to $3 billion a year to identify and deport the estimated 300,000 to 450,000 illegal immigrants locked up each year in jails and prisons.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation was denounced by immigrant rights groups and received cautiously by those favoring tighter enforcement.
“We can do something few law enforcement agencies can do: Not only ensure criminals are off the streets, but ensure they are removed from the country,” said ICE spokesman Tim Counts. “Removing hundreds of thousands of criminals from the country is sure to have a positive impact on community safety.”
{snip}
The recently announced ICE effort, known as “Secure Communities,” will upgrade computer technology in jails and allow local jailers to access ICE’s fingerprint database to quickly identify prisoners with immigration violations as they are booked. The $200 million in funding already allocated for the program this year would also add an unspecified number of ICE detention and removal officers, Counts confirmed.
The program would also:
* Prioritize removal of criminal immigrants based on their danger to the community.
* Expand an early parole program for non-violent immigrants who agree to deportation.
* Add staff in field offices so ICE detention officers are available around-the-clock to assist local jailers in deportation.
* Increase the 287 (g) program, which trains state and local law enforcement officers to perform immigration duties.
Counts said the first priority would be removing “level one” immigrants, those convicted of major drug offenses and violent crimes including murder, manslaughter, rape and armed robbery. Removing those offenders would cost around $1 billion a year. ICE estimates the cost to remove all convicted criminal immigrants in custody would be $2 billion to $3 billion annually.
“We estimate it will take approximately three and a half years to remove all level one criminal aliens, and to test the program’s effectiveness,” Counts said.
{snip}
Fire from both sides
The new multiyear ICE operation has raised questions from groups on both sides of the immigration debate.
Curtis Collier, president of the U.S. Border Watch in Houston, said illegal immigrants should only be deported after completing their sentences.
{snip}
Arnoldo Garcia, program coordinator for the National Network of Immigrant Refugee Rights, said the ICE effort could result in profiling of immigrants.
{snip}
Email James Pinkerton at james.pinkerton@chron.com.
(Posted on April 10, 2008)
Comments
Two- to three-billion dollars is a lot of money. But if you take into consideration how much money it would cost to provide for the illegals in jail, plus other expenses of illegals, it may not be such a bad deal.
Posted by Mark P. at 6:11 PM on April 10
Wow..4 Billion to remove approximately 2% of the illegals in the country. How much fence could 4 Billion have bought 20 years ago?
Posted by at 6:32 PM on April 10
Arnoldo Garcia, program coordinator for the National Network of Immigrant Refugee Rights, said the ICE effort could result in profiling of immigrants.
Do these people EVER have anything intelligent or even original to say?
When there is NOTHING whatever to find fault with, these predictable spokesmen say “stereotypint!” or “insensitive!!” or “profiling!!!” as if these are hanging offenses.
Posted by GB at 6:41 PM on April 10
And how much is saved by doing that? $20 to $30 billion? More like $200 to $300 billion.
The bias here is implying that it costs money to reduce crime by getting rid of illegals. The reverse is true. Dramatically so. It costs an INCREDIBLE amount to deal with effects that come with criminal fugitive aliens and a relative pittance to get rid of them.
Posted by at 7:04 PM on April 10
“Curtis Collier, president of the U.S. Border Watch in Houston, said illegal immigrants should only be deported after completing their sentences.”
ABSOLUTELY! Deporting them at booking violates the assumption of innocence in US justice. Deporting them before they finish their sentences, amounts to nothing less than a get-out-of-Jail free card for illegal aliens. They avoid long-term incarceration and are back across the border in a few days. Watch for criminals to claim to be illegal aliens in order to short-circuit the criminal justice system and get a free ride to Mexico.
It is not punishment for crimes in the USA to be deported back to Mexico, to visit home, to visit with friends and family, to be back in their own country.
Which do you really want? Do you want dangerous threats locked up in prison or do you want them set free at the border, only to re-cross? How many witnesses and arresting officers will be in danger because vicious individuals are let out of jail early?
Posted by Memphomaniac at 8:49 PM on April 10
What took ICE so long to figure out this would be a good idea?
I will bet anything anyone likes that the countries these guys came from won’t be one bit happy to have them back. Their governments have made good public policy at home by not merely exporting poverty, but crime.
By all means make them finish their sentences. We don’t want them to even *think* about coming back here.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 1:22 AM on April 11
It is about time. The insanity of sticking the taxpayer with the bill for their incarceration here, to the tune of an estimated three hundred million dollars in California alone, is beyond irresponsible. Heads should have rolled long ago, if this nation was governed responsibly.
Posted by Bobby at 1:34 AM on April 11
There should be a caution here, without solidifying the borders
these criminals could easily be allowed back to our country being free men again. With the new elections; the next presidential term is allowing open borders; as far as I’m concered all three candidates are extreme liberal and would welcome them back to our country with open arms. We need another Sam Houston.
Posted by at 5:33 PM on April 11
handcuff and shackle them, and allow Citizens to drive them south, turning them over to ICE at the border for $100 cash per head+the cost of one taco on the way. Same for delivering them to airports on Saturday (slow flying day) and various red eye flights publicized to various countries of origin. Save money and get the job done by paying motivated Americans, not bumbling bureaucrats.
Posted by leda at 8:06 PM on April 11
Are you understanding that until now criminal illegals were jailed and served their sentence at taxpayer’s expense and then were RELEASED - NOT deported. This programs is talking about what is being done with them on their release - instead of walking back into our society on this side of the border, they would go from incarceration into deportation.
* Expand an early parole program for non-violent immigrants who agree to deportation.
“profiling of immigrants” - how has anyone been convinced that profiling is bad? Like little old white ladies removing their shoes at the airport, I guess ALL prisoners could be screened by ICE, to remove the mere suggestion that immigrants only are being screened to check their legal status in the country…
The non-violent illegals could be released early if they agreed to deportation at that time.
I think some of you readers are missing the point because it is so incomprehensible that ANY illegals would merely have been just released after serving time.
Posted by Blue Eyes at 8:34 PM on April 11