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Patriot Games
Guest
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Illegal_Alien_Deportation/2008/04/10/86933.html
Illegal Alien Deportations on the Rise
Thursday, April 10, 2008
A fence has yet to be built along the U.S. border with Mexico, and Congress
has failed to come up with a comprehensive immigration policy. Although
foreigners continue to sneak into this country, the U.S. government is doing
a better job of finding them and sending them back.
According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, a growing
number of illegal aliens -- many of them with criminal records -- are being
deported to their native homelands.
More than 280,500 individuals were deported last year by ICE, a division of
the Department of Homeland Security, according to the immigration agency's
annual report for fiscal year 2007, which ended on Sept. 30, 2007. (The
report, released in January 2008, has been adjusted to reflect the actual
numbers.)
The number of deportations has steadily increased since fiscal year 2003,
when some 150,000 people were sent back to their place of origin, according
to Pat Reilly, public affairs officer with ICE. Approximately 175,000
illegal immigrants were deported in fiscal years 2004 and 2005. Fiscal year
2006 saw more than 200,000 people forced out of the country.
Reilly said the number of deportations for the current fiscal year is
expected to be even more dramatic.
"In the first quarter of fiscal year 2008 -- 94,237 people were removed,"
Riley told Cybercast News Service . If that trend continues, close to
500,000 illegal aliens could be sent out of the country by the end of this
year.
An estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens are in the United
States, but Riley said it's impossible to give an accurate number. "There's
no viable way to tell how many people get in illegally."
Riley said there are several reasons for the increasing deportation numbers.
One is a policy change made by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
to end the "catch and release" policy on the U.S. border.
Previously, suspected illegal immigrants detained at the border were given a
"notice to appear" in court for a deportation hearing. "We called it a
notice to disappear," Reilly said.
Individuals who are stopped at the border for illegal entry are now taken
into custody by ICE instead of being released on a promise to appear in
court.
In previous years, many individuals failed to show up for their deportation
hearings, and they became fugitives in the eyes of federal law. "There's a
very large fugitive population in this country," Reilly said.
Recently, ICE has been more successful in finding fugitive illegal aliens
and forcing them to leave the country, Reilly said.
In 2005, there were only 15 ICE teams canvassing the country for individuals
who had been ordered to appear in court for deportation hearings but failed
to show up. In 2007, 75 teams were on the job, and Reilly said ICE hopes to
have 100 teams in place by the end of this year.
In 2006, ICE closed 23,356 "fugitive alien" cases, and that number
quadrupled to 102,777 fugitive arrests last year, according to ICE's annual
report.
That fiscal 2007 annual report credits the agency's high-tech DEPORT Center
in Chicago, formed in 2006, with expediting cases of criminal illegal aliens
serving time in prison.
DEPORT uses video teleconference equipment to screen, interview and launch
removal proceedings against criminal aliens serving time in prisons across
the nation.
Since its inception, ICE says DEPORT has screened over 33,000 cases, issued
more than 17,000 charging documents to begin removal proceedings, and lodged
more than 11,000 orders for continued detentions. (See ICE Fact Sheet)
Some of the criminal illegal aliens are serving time for murder, predatory
sexual offenses, drug trafficking, and smuggling people into the United
States.
Reilly said ICE also has expanded its partnership with state and local law
enforcement in a program that trains and authorizes police officers to
operate as federal immigration agents.
Reilly said at least 30 U.S. cities have signed on to the program, which
involves checking the legal status of individuals who are arrested for
various offenses. [See related story: Unheralded Program Speeds Up Expulsion
of Criminal Aliens From US (16 May 2007)]
For fiscal year 2008, the U.S. Congress has given ICE a budget of more than
$5.5 billion, including $32.8 million for fugitive operations and $26.4 for
supporting and training state and local police.
Reilly noted that not all deportations are related to crime. Under the
Volunteer Repatriation program, individuals with no criminal record can
leave the country of their own accord. In fiscal year 2007, 41,428 of the
280,500 deportation cases were voluntary.
Illegal Alien Deportations on the Rise
Thursday, April 10, 2008
A fence has yet to be built along the U.S. border with Mexico, and Congress
has failed to come up with a comprehensive immigration policy. Although
foreigners continue to sneak into this country, the U.S. government is doing
a better job of finding them and sending them back.
According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, a growing
number of illegal aliens -- many of them with criminal records -- are being
deported to their native homelands.
More than 280,500 individuals were deported last year by ICE, a division of
the Department of Homeland Security, according to the immigration agency's
annual report for fiscal year 2007, which ended on Sept. 30, 2007. (The
report, released in January 2008, has been adjusted to reflect the actual
numbers.)
The number of deportations has steadily increased since fiscal year 2003,
when some 150,000 people were sent back to their place of origin, according
to Pat Reilly, public affairs officer with ICE. Approximately 175,000
illegal immigrants were deported in fiscal years 2004 and 2005. Fiscal year
2006 saw more than 200,000 people forced out of the country.
Reilly said the number of deportations for the current fiscal year is
expected to be even more dramatic.
"In the first quarter of fiscal year 2008 -- 94,237 people were removed,"
Riley told Cybercast News Service . If that trend continues, close to
500,000 illegal aliens could be sent out of the country by the end of this
year.
An estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens are in the United
States, but Riley said it's impossible to give an accurate number. "There's
no viable way to tell how many people get in illegally."
Riley said there are several reasons for the increasing deportation numbers.
One is a policy change made by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
to end the "catch and release" policy on the U.S. border.
Previously, suspected illegal immigrants detained at the border were given a
"notice to appear" in court for a deportation hearing. "We called it a
notice to disappear," Reilly said.
Individuals who are stopped at the border for illegal entry are now taken
into custody by ICE instead of being released on a promise to appear in
court.
In previous years, many individuals failed to show up for their deportation
hearings, and they became fugitives in the eyes of federal law. "There's a
very large fugitive population in this country," Reilly said.
Recently, ICE has been more successful in finding fugitive illegal aliens
and forcing them to leave the country, Reilly said.
In 2005, there were only 15 ICE teams canvassing the country for individuals
who had been ordered to appear in court for deportation hearings but failed
to show up. In 2007, 75 teams were on the job, and Reilly said ICE hopes to
have 100 teams in place by the end of this year.
In 2006, ICE closed 23,356 "fugitive alien" cases, and that number
quadrupled to 102,777 fugitive arrests last year, according to ICE's annual
report.
That fiscal 2007 annual report credits the agency's high-tech DEPORT Center
in Chicago, formed in 2006, with expediting cases of criminal illegal aliens
serving time in prison.
DEPORT uses video teleconference equipment to screen, interview and launch
removal proceedings against criminal aliens serving time in prisons across
the nation.
Since its inception, ICE says DEPORT has screened over 33,000 cases, issued
more than 17,000 charging documents to begin removal proceedings, and lodged
more than 11,000 orders for continued detentions. (See ICE Fact Sheet)
Some of the criminal illegal aliens are serving time for murder, predatory
sexual offenses, drug trafficking, and smuggling people into the United
States.
Reilly said ICE also has expanded its partnership with state and local law
enforcement in a program that trains and authorizes police officers to
operate as federal immigration agents.
Reilly said at least 30 U.S. cities have signed on to the program, which
involves checking the legal status of individuals who are arrested for
various offenses. [See related story: Unheralded Program Speeds Up Expulsion
of Criminal Aliens From US (16 May 2007)]
For fiscal year 2008, the U.S. Congress has given ICE a budget of more than
$5.5 billion, including $32.8 million for fugitive operations and $26.4 for
supporting and training state and local police.
Reilly noted that not all deportations are related to crime. Under the
Volunteer Repatriation program, individuals with no criminal record can
leave the country of their own accord. In fiscal year 2007, 41,428 of the
280,500 deportation cases were voluntary.
