Criminal deportations shoot up in Northwest
But overall removals decline
SEATTLE – Deportations of illegal immigrants with criminal records from Alaska, Oregon and Washington this past year spiked by nearly 40 percent, while overall removals dropped for the first time in five years, according to new data released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The data, from Oct. 1, 2008, to Sep. 30, 2009, shows that 10,793 people were deported from the Pacific Northwest, a drop of 117 compared to the previous year.
That marks the first time in the past five years that deportations from the Northwest have dropped. Deportations had increased from more than 4,000 in 2005 to nearly 11,000 in 2008.
But removals of people with criminal records went from more than 3,100 to nearly 4,500 between 2008 and 2009 – a jump of 39.7 percent. Since 2005, criminal removals have more than doubled.
The data “illustrates pretty vividly the priority we’re placing on the removal of criminal aliens,” ICE spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said. “We believe it’s the best way to enhance public safety.”
Dankers said moving resources resulted in a slight decrease in deportations of immigrants with no criminal records, but she said that ICE cannot ignore that section of the illegal immigrant community.
She added ICE has moved its resources to focus on immigrants with criminal records. Crimes under which a person may be deported can range between a misdemeanor and a felony.
ICE has various programs that feed its criminal removals, including the Criminal Alien Program, in which agents comb jails for people who are not in the country legally. Another program – Secure Communities – uses computerized analysis to help local law enforcement determine a person’s background.
Dankers also said ICE is heavily involved in anti-gang initiatives around the region.