The number of people who have been deported after being convicted of criminal offenses has dropped substantially over the last four years even as the government targeted them with a federal fingerprint-sharing program in Georgia and across the nation, a report released Tuesday shows.
The report by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse —- a research organization at Syracuse University —- shows an 11 percent drop in deportations of people convicted of crimes other than traffic and immigration offenses, from 116,884 in fiscal year 2010 to 103,676 in fiscal year 2013.
The Secure Communities program works by comparing the fingerprints of everyone booked into jails with prints held in federal databases to determine whether the detainees are in the country illegally.
TRAC says in its report the program “has failed to increase the removal of its primary announced targets: noncitizens who have committed crimes other than minor violations.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees the program, issued a statement Tuesday, saying TRAC appears to have “misinterpreted” the data. Of those deported as a result of Secure Communities, according to the federal agency, 95 percent fall into one of ICE’s priorities and 79 percent have at least one criminal conviction in addition to being in the country unlawfully. ICE says it is focused on removing people with criminal convictions, recent border crossers, immigration fugitives, and those who have been previously deported.
“ICE is committed to enforcing our immigration laws effectively and sensibly, in line with stated values,” ICE said.
Critics have called on the Obama administration to scrap the program, complaining it is distracting police from important crime-fighting duties and tearing families apart. Supporters have praised the program, saying it is helping curb illegal immigration in Georgia and preventing criminals from deceiving authorities with aliases.
About the Author
