Some illegal immigrants arrested repeatedly, report says

WASHINGTON – Illegal immigrants are being released from prison only to be arrested on new charges, despite government efforts to deport them and keep them out of the country.

The findings are part of an audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine that suggests authorities are still struggling to deport illegal immigrants who commit crimes, even though most state and local authorities are notifying immigration authorities of the imminent release of prisoners.

Fine’s office analyzed the cases of 100 immigrants who had served time in prison and found 73 of them were rearrested after being released. On average, each immigrant was rearrested six times, ranging from traffic violations to assault.

Fine’s office couldn’t determine how many illegal immigrants had been rearrested overall because immigration authorities don’t keep track. If the sample was any indication, “the rate at which released criminal aliens are rearrested is extremely high,” the report said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials questioned whether the audit’s small sample should reflect negatively on their agency’s efforts to deport criminal immigrants. The audit did not determine whether ICE failed to deport the immigrants after being notified by prison officials.

But Heather Mac Donald, a fellow with the conservative Manhattan Institute, said ICE continues to have problems with deporting criminal immigrants because the agency doesn’t always have enough detention space to hold immigrants once they’re released from prisons.

“What this speaks to is the fact that we’re not up to speed on immigration enforcement in general,” she said.