Report faults ICE program over illegal immigrants

HOUSTON CHRONICLE
2:00 a.m. October 21, 2009

HOUSTON — Nearly one in five suspected illegal immigrants who went through an Immigration and Customs Enforcement intensive monitoring program absconded while under supervision during the past five years, newly disclosed records show.

The records, obtained by the Houston Chronicle  through a Freedom of Information Act request, raise questions about the effectiveness of ICE's alternatives-to-detention programs, which President Barack Obama's administration touted this month as a key component in the planned overhaul of the nation's immigration detention system.

Immigrants enrolled in the programs are expected to comply with a range of measures, including checking in by phone, wearing ankle monitors and obeying a curfew. The programs are designed to improve court-appearance rates for nonviolent offenders.

On its Web site, ICE boasts a 99 percent appearance rate in immigration court for participants in its restrictive Intensive Supervision Appearance Program. Yet records maintained by private contractors who administer the program show that they were “unable to locateâ€