TRAC Report: Obama Administration Withholding Records that they are Targeting Fewer Criminals in Deportation Proceedings

Syracuse University's TRAC Immigration has done it again.  They just released a report (December 5, 2011) that reveals that from July - September 2011 only 7,378 individuals or 13.8% of all individuals facing deportation have engaged in criminal activities. The proportion of alleged "criminals"  deportation cases has dropped from the 16.5% during FY 2010.

TRAC found that:

Not only has ICE targeted relatively few criminals as the basis for seeking deportation in these court proceedings, but this proportion has been declining steadily throughout the past year: 15.8 percent were charged with engaging in criminal activity during the first quarter period (October - December 2010), 15.1 percent during the second quarter (January - March 2011), 14.9 percent during the third quarter (April - June 2011), and finally 13.8 percent during the fourth quarter (July - September 2011). The average rate across the four quarters for FY 2011 was 14.9 percent.

TRAC also determined that during FY 2011 ICE initiated deportation proceedings against 188,770 individuals that only violated U.S. immigration laws, or 83.4% of the total cases. The percentage of individuals charged with mere immigration violations increased slightly from FY 2010 when 81.9% of all pending removal cases only related to immigration violations.

Here is what TRAC has to say about the discrepencies between the administration's clearly erroneous statements that criminal deportations are increasing:

TRAC's findings appear to contrast sharply with the White House's announcement that: "Under the President's direction, for the first time ever the Department of Homeland Security has prioritized the removal of people who have been convicted of crimes in the United States." The findings also are hard to reconcile with ICE's recent press statements that claimed that during the past year the agency had targeted a large and increasing number of convicted criminals for deportation.

Unfortunately, while the agency could easily clear up these apparent discrepancies it has chosen not to do so. Indeed, for twenty months, in clear violation of public disclosure laws, ICE has persisted in withholding from TRAC the case-by-case data TRAC requested under FOIA that the agency maintains on these same court proceedings — information precisely parallel to what the Department of Justice already determined must be released to the public from its own files. DHS and other government offices have failed to rectify this matter despite TRAC's appeals to DHS's Director of Disclosure and FOIA Operations, as well as to the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS).

The records ICE is withholding would show just which ICE programs — such as Secure Communities or others — have contributed to fewer alleged criminals being targeted for deportation in court proceedings. The data would also allow the public to judge whether ICE's actual activities match ICE's announced policies to target serious criminals, and those who pose threats to public safety, as well as to better monitor how the agency exercises prosecutorial discretion in whom it seeks to deport.

In addition, TRAC contacted ICE's Public Relations office on November 7, 2011 asking for explanations of the figures given in the agency's October 18, 2011 press release that claimed the agency's FY 2011 accomplishments closely matched announced ICE priorities. At a meeting with ICE officials November 10, the agency promised to promptly provide answers to a series of TRAC questions that asked for details backing up the agency's claims. Again and again, however, the promised answers did not materialize. ICE's Public Affairs office continues to say the promised answers will be forthcoming.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE consider donating to TRAC. They are at the very front line of defense against this administration's war against the truth.