Information About Federal Inmate Deportation
In 2003, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, congress created the Department of Homeland Security, a cabinet department responsible for the nation's safety and security. The new department absorbed 22 existing federal agencies including the Department of Immigration and Naturalization, which was reorganized as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and charged to protect Americans by enforcing immigration and customs laws. Part of ICE's mission has been the deportation or removal of illegal immigrants who pose a threat to national security, economic stability and local health and safety to ensure that violent criminals are not released back into American communities.
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Criminal Alien Program
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ICE launched the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) in 2006 as a first step toward increasing the deportation of federal inmates. The CAP program's mission is to share information with prison staff and wade through the records of nearly 200,000 inmates who the Bureau of Prison Statistics reports as serving federal sentences in order to identify any illegal aliens that can be deported. CAP also searches the records of the approximately 1.3 million inmates in state prison systems to identify illegal immigrants in those facilities. It is also working to establish a network of record sharing with local prisons. According to a 2008 report issued by ICE, CAP identified 67,000 illegal immigrants in its first year, and 164,000 in 2007.
Detention Enforcement and Processing Offenders by Remote Technology
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ICE conducts interviews with inmates it suspects to be illegal aliens at the Detention Enforcement and Processing Offenders by Remote Technology (DEPORT) center in Chicago. The DEPORT center conducts video conferences with inmates and prison officials throughout the country in order to target inmates who pose the greatest risk to safety and security. In November 2008, when ICE announced its comprehensive Secure Communities plan, the agency was able to report that DEPORT had reviewed 33,000 cases and started deportation proceedings against 17,000 inmates in both the state and federal prison systems.
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Crimes Invoving Moral Turpitude
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Federal inmates who are facing deportation must appear in immigration court for a deportation hearing. As with any case, immigrants are allowed to present evidence and information that could convince a judge not to order deportation. However, immigrants who have been convicted of crimes that involve moral turpitude, may have a more difficult time arguing against deportation. Those crimes include but are not limited to murder, kidnapping, sexual abuse and assault, drug trafficking, forgery and counterfeiting, perjury and falsifying government documents.
Rapid REPAT
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ICE also has an early-release program, Rapid REPAT, that allows nonviolent immigrants in state prisons to be freed after serving half of their sentences if they agree to return to their home countries. Inmates who choose to participate in the Rapid REPAT program become federal detainees who are held a special federal detention centers until they can be transported to their homelands. Although immigrants are only supposed to be held for a short time in detention, there are reports that many have waited months for ICE to arrange transportation.
Concerns About Deportation
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A growing number of lawyers and advocacy groups for immigrants have become concerned with ICE's emphasis on deporting inmates. Many working to assist immigrants have raised questions about inadequate legal representation in immigration court and about the potential separation of families as a result of removal. Several of these advocacy groups offer assistance to immigrants and lawyers who are fighting deportation.
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References
- U.S. Department of Justice: Prisoners in 2008
- AlterNet: Forgotten Prisoners: The Problem With Our Immigrant Deportation System
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Office of Detention and Removal
- The Real Cost of Prisons: ICE: Secure Communities
- Immigration Policy Center: The Criminal Alien Program: Immigration Enforcement in Prisons and Jails
Resources
- Photo Credit latticed prison window image by Stasys Eidiejus from Fotolia.com
