Federal immigration authorities are targeting a greater percentage of minorities for enforcement in Georgia, according to new report released by civil and immigrant rights groups Thursday.
Of those arrested through June of last fiscal year, 99 percent had medium or dark complexions, up from 89 percent in fiscal year 2007. And for those who were targeted with immigration “detainers” through June of last fiscal year, 96 percent had medium or dark complexions. That is up from 67 percent in fiscal year 2007.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement routinely sends detainers to local jails and state prisons, asking them to notify the federal agency before releasing certain people. The detainers allow jails and prisons to hold people for an additional 48 hours — excluding weekends and holidays — after they would otherwise be released. This gives ICE time to take custody of them and attempt to deport them.
The report was prepared by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Georgia, the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Immigrant Rights Clinic at New York University Law School. Those organizations obtained the data for the report through a Freedom of Information Act-related lawsuit.
“In many ways, the data confirms and explains the injustice suffered by immigrant communities in Georgia over the years,” the report says. “Community trust has been significantly reduced by increased detention and removal of Georgia residents.”
The report also shows the overall number of ICE arrests grew substantially during the same period in Georgia, from 1,533 in fiscal year 2007 to 16,143 through June of fiscal year 2013, a 953 percent increase. During the same timeframe, the number of people local law enforcement officials handed over to ICE through detainers also increased, from 75 in fiscal year 2007 to 17,269 through June of fiscal year 2013.
In a statement issued Thursday, ICE said it has shifted its focus toward deporting convicted criminals, “egregious immigration law violators” and recent border crossers who don’t have legal status in the U.S.
“ICE’s focus on enforcing the law against convicted criminals will obviously result in increased immigration enforcement activity at locations where convicted criminals are to be found, such as jails and prisons,” ICE said in its statement. “Through interoperability, which is based solely on biometric identification, ICE has established a presence throughout every law enforcement jurisdiction in Georgia — greatly expanding the agency’s ability to identify priority targets for enforcement.”
In the fiscal year ending in September, according to ICE, the federal agency’s Atlanta field office — which is responsible for Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina — removed 14,744 immigrants without legal status in the U.S., 11,534 of whom were convicted criminals.
“As the overwhelming number of illegal immigrants present in the United States are from Mexico and Central America,” ICE said, “it should be no surprise that immigration enforcement involves a proportionate number of people from those countries.”
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