Thread: Maricopa County jail leads U.S. in ICE holds

By JJ Hensley The Republic | azcentral.com Tue Feb 26, 2013 9:53 AM


Prisoners move to a new housing arrangement at Lower Buckeye Jail in Phoenix.
Deirdre Hamill/The Republic

More inmates were tagged with federal immigration detainers in Maricopa County’s main jail than at any other facility in the country, according to a recent Syracuse University analysis.

The report released last week sought to track the number of unique federal immigration detainers, also known as immigration holds, placed over a period of more than four years on inmates suspected of being undocumented immigrants. The report surveyed thousands of detention facilities nationwide.

The report tracked 28,862 immigration holds at “Maricopa County Jail,” a figure that exceeded those of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s detention facility and a county facility in Houston. Maricopa County’s tally topped 30,000 when inmates processed at the Lower Buckeye Jail were included. The Sheriff’s Office books the majority of inmates at Fourth Avenue Jail.

The statistics Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse gathered from the start of fiscal 2008 through the early part of fiscal 2012 likely do not account for all immigration holds placed on inmates in Maricopa County jails.

The data collected by the university analysts through public-records requests with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement covered four years. But records kept by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office show nearly the same number of inmates have been subject to immigration holds in just the past three calendar years.

Sheriff’s Office records show immigration holds were placed on 27,795 inmates from 2010 through 2012.

Susan Long, professor of managerial statistics at Syracuse University, said the clearinghouse, which studies immigration statistics, received a very limited amount of information from federal officials compared with what the group requested, and the missing data could account for some of the discrepancy.

“I’m not at all surprised that it’s an undercount,” Long said.

The report notes that more than 70percent of Maricopa County inmates with immigration holds were not convicted of crimes, slightly lower than the 77percent that the clearinghouse found nationwide.

ICE officials could not verify the contents of the group’s report and noted that the analysts attempted to draw conclusions about federal immigration enforcement based on data that does not reflect whether inmates with immigration holds were actually deported.

The agency also changed some of the paperwork that detained immigrants receive to clarify how long they may be kept in custody after they would have been released following their state charges or convictions. The policy changes led ICE officials to question the validity of the information in the clearinghouse report.

“As the TRAC report itself notes, its conclusions are based on data that dates back four years, prior to many of ICE’s enforcement reforms including the new detainer guidance issued by the agency on Dec.21,” said Amber Cargile, an ICE spokeswoman in Phoenix. “This guidance limits the use of detainers to individuals who meet the agency’s enforcement priorities, and restricts the use of detainers against individuals arrested for minor misdemeanor offenses such as traffic offenses and other petty crimes, helping to ensure that available resources are focused on apprehending convicted felons, repeat offenders and other ICE priorities.”

Federal officials deported more than 409,000 people in fiscal 2012, up from the 396,000 immigrants removed in fiscal 2011, according to ICE.

The changes could diminish the number of inmates who are subject to ICE holds, continuing a trend that has developed for a variety of reasons.

A big change came in Maricopa County in late December 2011, when federal immigration officers began conducting immigration screenings for every inmate booked into a Maricopa County jail — a function that sheriff’s staff used to perform.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the change after the U.S. Justice Department issued findings about the Sheriff’s Office that alleged widespread discrimination in patrol and detention operations. The report also led federal officials to restrict the sheriff’s access to federal immigration databases.

That change led some politicians, including Sheriff Joe Arpaio, to worry that federal officers would place immigration holds on fewer inmates than the sheriff’s staff had.

That prediction came true: There were fewer immigration detainers placed on Maricopa County jail inmates in 2012 than there were in 2011. ICE holds have dropped by about 20percent in each of the last two years — both before and after ICE took control of immigration screening.

Other factors are likely contributing to the decline, however, including what most believe to be a decline in immigrants entering the U.S. illegally. That belief is based in part on the decline in apprehensions of undocumented immigrants crossing the border and in drophouses discovered in the state.

The overall jail population also has continued to decline in Maricopa County, with the total number of bookings falling by about 7percent from 2010 to 2012.

“Initially, I had concerns about ICE agents taking over this important job of screening for immigration status,” Arpaio said. “But after review of the last several months, I am pleased with the quality and level of work the ICE officers are doing in my jails. What I do not know, however, is the final disposition of these immigration holds. My hope is they are doing what they should, which is deporting border violators.”

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