I.C.E. News Releases

October 6, 2010

Top ICE enforcement priorities yield record results in FY 2010

More criminal aliens removed, more employers charged in worksite enforcement investigations

Today, ICE announced record-breaking enforcement results in fiscal year 2010, including the removal of more criminal aliens and the arrest of more employers of undocumented aliens than in any previous year in the agency's history. Below is a look at how the numbers break down.

Criminal Alien Enforcement
ICE attributes its increase in the removal of criminal aliens to the success of targeted enforcement programs such as Secure Communities and the Criminal Alien Program which focus on removing aliens who have been arrested or convicted of a crime, rather than releasing them back into the community. In particular, expansion of the Secure Communities program - which shares fingerprint information of individuals arrested in local custody with ICE - has contributed to ICE's enforcement record. In fact, 666 jurisdictions in 33 states now have this beneficial law enforcement information sharing capability.

In FY 2010:

•ICE removed more than 392,000 individuals
•ICE removed more than 195,000 convicted criminal aliens
•50 percent of the aliens ICE removed are convicted criminal aliens. Non-criminal aliens removed include recent border entrants and immigration fugitives.
•33 percent of the criminal aliens removed are considered the most serious offenders (Level 1) with rap sheets including murder, rape and major drug crimes.
•Aliens with other serious offenses like robbery or drug crimes (Level 2) accounted for 44 percent of convicted criminal alien removals.
•Convicted criminal removals include:
•More than 1,000 aliens convicted of homicide
•Nearly 6,000 aliens convicted of sex offenses
•Nearly than 45,000 aliens convicted for drugs offenses
•Nearly 28,000 aliens convicted for driving under the influence

Worksite Enforcement
In April 2009, Secretary Napolitano announced changes to ICE's worksite enforcement strategy -- which reduced the need for large-scale immigration enforcement actions where employees were arrested and instead focused on finding evidence to criminally charge employers and to increase the use of tools like I-9 audits, fines and debarment.

•This year, ICE criminally charged a record-breaking 180 owners, employers, managers and/or supervisors -- up from 135 in FY 2008 and 114 in FY 2009.
•ICE conducted more than 2,200 I-9 audits -- up from more than 1,400 in FY 2009.
•Since January 2009, ICE has imposed approximately $50 million in financial sanctions.
•ICE debarred 97 business and 49 individuals in FY 2010, up from 30 and 53, respectively, in FY 2009.

What Others Are Saying About ICE Enforcement Programs
"As the proud product of a family that immigrated to Houston, I am certainly sensitive to the immigration issue. At the Harris County Sheriff's Office, we leave it to other arms of government to decide who is illegal and who is not. But when someone is brought to my jail accused of committing a crime against the state of Texas, they should be subjected to all the laws. We use 287(g) and Secure Committees in tandem to find out which inmates need to have their immigration status looked at by ICE as soon as their local criminal case is over. The removal of illegal immigrants who come to the Houston area and commit local crimes keeps our community safer. We're not just the place where 287(g) was first put into action, but we're also a national model for how the program works smoothly at high volume and less than a day's drive from a national border."

-- Harris County, Texas, Sheriff Adrian Garcia

"Secure Communities is an excellent program that promotes information sharing between local law enforcement and ICE. The program identifies individuals who are here in our country illegally and commit serious crimes, without profiling or enforcement of federal immigration laws by our deputies. There's no additional workload for our staff and does not cost a dime to Fairfax County or to our residents."

-- Fairfax County Sheriff Stan Barry

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423.

Last Modified: Wednesday, October 6, 2010
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1010/101006washingtondc3.htm