Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040

    ICE released Boone Co. detainees facing serious charges

    ICE released Boone Co. detainees facing serious charges

    Mark Hansel, mhansel@enquirer.com10:40 p.m. EDT April 20, 2014

    (Photo: File photo )

    The Enquirer has learned that among the detainees released from the Boone County Immigration Detention Facility last year were inmates charged with serious offenses, including battery, domestic violence and carrying a concealed weapon.

    At the time of the release, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said none of the 35 detainees here presented a danger to the local community.


    The controversial release of more than 2,000 detainees nationwide in February 2013 was a result of the planned federal sequestration and ICE budget cuts. Besides Boone County, other releases were made in Chicago and San Diego, among others.


    In a statement to Congress in March 2013, John Mortan, director of ICE, said detainees were not released if they were “serious offenders” or posed “a threat to the national security or public safety.”


    At least in Boone County, only 13 of the 35 released on an order of recognizance between Feb. 25 and Feb. 28 last year were identified as having committed non-criminal offenses. ICE officials identified those freed on an order of recognizance during this period as among the estimated 2,000 detainees that were let go during the nationwide release.


    Those identified as having committed criminal offenses included seven for driving under the influence and one each for battery, carrying a concealed weapon, domestic violence and forgery.


    All were also in some stage of the deportation process, said Boone County Jailer Ed Prindle.


    Prindle said the detainees could have been arrested anywhere in ICE’s six-state Chicago immigration region, but all were released unsupervised into Boone County.


    “That was the most frustrating thing for me” Prindle said. “What they were putting out nationwide is that these were people who were just going through the process and were not criminal offenders, but almost all of them were criminal offenders. They said the release was to cut costs in anticipation of the looming sequester, but a punishment to society is a better description of what happened as far as I’m concerned.”


    Of the 35 people released on an order of recognizance between Feb. 25 and Feb. 28 last year, only 13 were identified as having committed non-criminal offenses. ICE officials identified those freed on an order of recognizance during this period as among the estimated 2,000 detainees that were let go during the nationwide release.


    Those identified as having committed criminal offenses included seven for driving under the influence and one each for battery, carrying a concealed weapon, domestic violence and forgery.


    All were also in some stage of the deportation process, according to Prindle.


    ICE officials declined the portion of The Enquirer’s Freedom of Information Act request that asked for the names of those released, citing privacy considerations.


    The goals of the request were to find out what the detainees were charged with, follow up on the final disposition of their cases and deportation proceedings, and determine if they had been involved in any subsequent criminal activity.


    It took ICE officials nearly a year to respond to the Enquirer’s FOIA request for details about the Boone County detainees.


    The request was filed Feb. 28, 2013, the day the release of prisoners was announced, and the response from ICE was dated Feb. 7, 2014.


    ICE officials attributed the delay to a large number of FOIA requests filed after the release of detainees nationwide during a two-week period in February 2013.


    The spreadsheet provided by ICE listed only the date of and reason for release, the criminality of the charges (criminal or non-criminal), and the most serious criminal conviction.


    Fernando Pineiro, Deputy Director for ICE’s Freedom of Information division, said the names of the detainees were omitted from the response to protect their individual privacy.


    “We never release names because of the privacy act,” Pineiro said. “The FOIA allows you to request records, but the privacy act requires us to protect individuals’ privacy. We can tell you in general terms what happened to “detainee X” but we can’t tell you who that is unless you have a release form signed by that person.”


    Pineiro said it is much easier to determine the identity of U.S. citizens arrested for a crime than to obtain the same information for illegal immigrants arrested in one jurisdiction and held for deportation in another.


    Without a name, date or place of arrest, Pineiro admitted that it would be virtually impossible to identify someone arrested for a crime in an area that covers six states.


    “Information (about the arrest of a U.S. citizen) comes through the courts because that’s a public document, and you would be able to follow up,” Pineiro said.


    “I’m not the custodian of the court records; I’m the custodian of ICE agency records and they are subject to the privacy act. If it were up to me, I would release all of the records, but I have regulations that I have to follow”


    Pineiro said that because the detainees were also facing deportation, he would not be surprised if none returned for a final disposition.


    “There is nothing we can do about that and the main reason is the limited detention space,” Pineiro said. “Some of these people have to be released on their own recognizance and in some cases there are familial ties that make it easier to go back and pick them up. With others, we can lose track of them”


    The Boone County Jail is the only facility in Kentucky authorized to hold federal immigration detainees for more than 72 hours and the program generates significant revenue. The jail is reimbursed $44.65 daily for each detainee and the program generates more than $2 million annually.


    ICE officials cited the need to reduce costs prior to the looming sequestration when the detainees were released in 2013.


    Prindle, however, said the number of detainees in Boone County returned to pre-release levels within a few days and there was no impact on the annual revenue generated from federal prisoner payment. ■

    http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news...ation/7951787/

    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •