REGION: Critics question jump in local deportation numbers

By Edward Sifuentes

October 30, 2011

The number of people deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego County nearly doubled from fiscal 2010 to the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to the agency.

But it's not because more illegal immigrants are being caught here; the agency is now counting people arrested in Arizona and Texas who are then brought here and deported.

Critics say the administration of President Barack Obama is using tricks to boost deportation numbers in order to appear tough on illegal immigration.

In fiscal 2010, which ran from Oct. 1, 2009, to Sept. 30, 2010, Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego ---- which covers San Diego and Imperial counties ---- deported 18,086 people, said Lauren Mack, an agency spokeswoman.

In fiscal 2011, that number jumped to 33,006.

Those number don't include people arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol. The Border Patrol enforces federal immigration laws along the border, while ICE enforces immigration laws in the rest of the country.

The Border Patrol reports separately the number of people arrested along the border.

The reason for such a huge jump in ICE deportations is partly because of new programs aimed at disrupting immigrant-smuggling operations and illegal immigrants who cross the border repeatedly, Mack said. Under those programs, ICE takes illegal immigrants arrested at the border to another part of the border to be returned.

For example, an illegal immigrant arrested in Texas could be shipped to San Diego to be returned to Mexico. That individual is counted as a deportation in San Diego instead of a Border Patrol arrest in Texas.

"As part of the administration's focus on key removal priorities, lateral repatriation programs are aimed at disrupting smuggling routes and dissuading individuals from re-entering after their removal," Mack said.

Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that urges stricter enforcement, said the Obama administration is being deceptive with the numbers by counting people who would not normally be in the deportation figures.

"One of the things they are doing is including people coming across the border and sending them back," Mehlman said. "Now they are counting them as a deportation."

In recent weeks, the Obama administration has been criticized by Latino and immigrant rights groups for deporting record numbers of illegal immigrants.

During his presidential campaign, Obama promised he would deliver immigration reform. Not only did he fail to deliver that promise, critics say, but Obama ramped up immigration enforcement efforts, including programs such as Secure Communities, which screens inmates in local jails looking for illegal immigrants.

Immigrant rights activists say programs such as Secure Communities are responsible for increasing the number of deportations to record levels.

Earlier this month, ICE officials announced they had deported more than 396,000 illegal immigrants nationwide, the largest number in the agency's history, and about 4,000 more than the previous year.

Under President George W. Bush, the number of deportations increased from 116,782 in 2001 to 369,221 in 2008.

Attempting to dispel Latino anger over the record numbers, Obama said recently that the deportation numbers were deceiving.

"The statistics are actually a little deceptive because what we've been doing is, with the stronger enforcement, we've been apprehending folks at the borders and sending them back," Obama told Latino reporters during an online discussion. "That is counted as a deportation, even though they may have only been held for a day or 48 hours (and) sent back."

One of the programs being cited as responsible for the huge increase in San Diego County deportations is called the Alien Transfer Exit Program. Under the program, ICE in San Diego counts individuals arrested by the Border Patrol in Texas and Arizona who are brought to San Diego to be deported.

Under a similar program, local ICE agents take custody of individuals arrested by the Border Patrol and other agencies, such as those arrested offshore in San Diego attempting to come in on rickety boats, and takes them to other parts of the country to be deported, Mack said.

Mack said both programs have the same aim: to discourage people who are caught at the border from immediately attempting to cross illegally again.

Critics say that by using these counting tricks, Obama can act tough on immigration with some groups and not appear as tough with others.

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