The alarming rise in illegal immigration is often a topic of discussion, but testimony before the House Judiciary Committee recently illustrated the almost total failure—or refusal—of the federal government to deal with the crisis. As part of her statement, Jessica M. Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies outlined the crisis:
“Dramatic Decline in Enforcement: Statistics published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show clearly that over the last several years, even as illegal border crossings have grown and the number of overstaying visitors is large, the number of deportations has plummeted and the number of illegal aliens allowed to stay and work in the United States has increased. The drop in enforcement activity has become particularly acute since the president’s executive action went into effect in late November 2014.
“Border Crossing Attempts:Since 2011, the number of illegal crossers apprehended by the Border Patrol has increased by 43 percent, from 340,000 to 487,000. It is generally believed that border apprehensions are an indicator of the number of attempted illegal border crossings, and that approximately half of those who attempt illegal entry are successful. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) states that “The uptick is largely due to the increase in unaccompanied children and family units who turned themselves in to Border Patrol agents in South Texas this summer.” These cases totaled 137,000 in 2014 alone.
“Although the apprehension statistics are concerning enough, they do not tell the whole story. CBP has yet to disclose how all these cases were disposed of — that is, how many of those apprehended were removed or returned, and how many were released into the United States? Of those released, how many have concluded their immigration proceedings or absconded from those proceedings? For example, separate government statistics indicate that only a few hundred of the surge arrivals have been deported.
“Overstays: It is generally accepted that 40 percent of the illegally residing population is comprised of aliens who overstayed beyond the time or purpose authorized by their status. According to an unpublished report I have reviewed that was prepared by DHS based on arrival and departure records, in 2012 approximately 263,000 aliens who were admitted on B-1 or B-2 visitor visas or under the Visa Waiver Program were identified as having remained in the country beyond their authorized duration of stay.
“Overstayers are not a high priority for deportation. In 2013, only 3 percent (11,596 out of 368,485) of the aliens deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were overstays.
“DHS Deportations. Total deportations by all three DHS immigration enforcement agencies (Border Patrol, ICE and CBP-OFO) have declined by 37 percent since 2009, from 978,000 to 616,000. This has occurred despite an increasing number of apprehensions and continuing overstay arrivals…
“Interior Deportations. The number of ICE deportations from the interior has dropped 58 percent since the peak in 2009, from 236,000 to 102,000 in 2014.
“Criminal Deportations. The number of criminal aliens deported from the interior has declined by 43 percent since 2012, from 153,000 to 87,000, despite increases in the number of criminal aliens encountered and screened by officers.
“In 2014, ICE deported 69,000 fewer criminals from U.S. communities than it did in 2012. This has occurred despite the fact that ICE has the ability to identify more criminal aliens than ever before, thanks to the nationwide implementation of the Secure Communities program, which links the DHS databases to the national fingerprint matching system.
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“Criminal Releases. In 2013, ICE released 36,007 convicted criminal aliens from its custody. Of these, 193 had homicide convictions, 426 had sexual assault convictions, and 303 had kidnapping convictions. As of September 2014, 5,700 of them (16 percent) had been arrested again for subsequent offenses, and 1,000 have been convicted again. ICE has taken only 1,600 back into custody.
“In 2014, ICE released another 30,000 convicted criminal aliens.
As of September, 2014, there were 166,781 convicted criminal aliens who had received final orders of removal who had not departed but were still at large in the United States after release by ICE. In addition, there were 174,283 convicted criminals with pending deportation proceedings who were at large in the United States, released by ICE.
“Moreover, many convicted criminal aliens are allowed to walk out of ICE custody without being enrolled in a program of supervision. For example, ICE officer report that fewer aliens are being enrolled in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), in which criminal aliens wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and check in frequently with monitors. I am told that while once this program was used frequently for lower level offenders, now it is rarely used, in favor of allowing the criminal alien to bond out without supervision. Members of this committee may wish to ask ICE to disclose how frequently this program is being used to supervise criminal aliens after release, which type of aliens are required to participate compared with prior years, and how many of these aliens have re-offended.
“Gang Arrests. Although gang members are said to be a high priority for enforcement, in fact the number of gang member arrests by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents has declined considerably. According to ICE records, the number of gang arrests declined from 5,080 arrests to 3,917 arrests from 2012 to 2013, a drop of 23 percent. The 2013 total is the lowest number of gang arrests since 2008.
“Further, ICE gang investigators have expressed concerns to me that gang members they arrest (usually after conviction on state charges) and turn over to Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) for detention and removal processing are sometimes de-prioritized and released — and even allowed to apply for work permits — which can unravel their prosecution and removal case, not to mention threaten public safety.
“ICE officers also report that informants who once agreed to work for ICE to help dismantle major gang conspiracies in exchange for the ability to stay here now are telling ICE that they have no incentive to do so, because they qualify for the president’s amnesty or know that they can take advantage of “prosecutorial discretion” policies. One gang investigator told me that some illegal alien gang members actually taunt ICE agents, knowing they are now virtually untouchable for deportation.
“ICE Metrics. Interior enforcement activity as measured by all of the other key metrics tracked by ICE — encounters, arrests, detainers, and charging documents issued — show declines in recent years. In 2014, deportation processing was initiated for approximately 143,000 aliens out of the 585,000 aliens encountered by ICE agents. Tens of thousands of those let go had been labeled a criminal threat.
“The Non-Departed. The number of aliens who have received a final order of removal, but who are still in the United States, has risen to nearly 900,000 as of September 2014. This number has grown by 40,000 in just two years. Part of the reason is that, even with the administration’s mass dismissals of “non-priority” cases in lieu of immigration hearings, many of the aliens whose case are completed and who are ordered removed simply do not comply if they are not detained. They were never a priority for enforcement under this administration, but now the president’s recent executive action specifically nullified all removal orders and enforcement actions involving “non-criminals” taken before January 1, 2014.”