http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/12051965.htm


Posted on Mon, Jul. 04, 2005

Some migrants given license to disappear

By Pauline Arrillaga

The Associated Press

HARLINGEN - Second of three parts

Several times a day, a chain-link gate rolls open and dozens of illegal immigrants stroll out of the U.S. Border Patrol station here, blinking into the hot Texas sun as they look for taxis to the bus station and a ticket out of town.

Each holds a piece of paper that Spanish speakers call a permiso -- permission, courtesy of the U.S. government, to roam the country freely.

Since the 9-11 terrorist attacks, more than 118,000 illegal migrants who were caught after sneaking over the nation's borders have walked right out of custody with a permiso in hand.

They were from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Brazil. But also Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen -- among 35 countries of "special interest" because of alleged sponsorship or support of terrorism.

These are the so-called OTM, or "other than Mexican," migrants too far from their homelands to be sent right back. More than 70,000 have hit U.S. streets since last October.

The government has no place to put all of the OTMs while they await deportation hearings, so they are released with a notice to appear in immigration court.

Many don't show -- disappearing, instead, among the estimated 10 million illegal migrants living in America.

In the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2001, 5,251 non-Mexicans were freed on their own recognizance from Border Patrol custody, according to agency statistics. In fiscal 2002, that rose to 5,725. Fiscal 2003: 7,972. Fiscal 2004: 34,161.

Last year's number included at least 91 illegal immigrants from "special-interest" countries.

Releases have soared again this year. With a few months left in the fiscal cycle, 70,624 OTMs have been released on their own recognizance -- or 70 percent of all non-Mexicans apprehended by the Border Patrol. That includes 50 illegal migrants from special-interest countries, Border Patrol spokesman Salvador Zamora says.

Authorities stress that apprehended illegal immigrants are routinely screened and that any determined to be a risk are detained. Individuals from special-interest nations aren't necessarily more likely to be terrorist threats than others, they say.

'Catch and release'

The afternoon is quickly fading, and 20 illegal immigrants sit under a hackberry tree near the Rio Grande.

"I bet you dollars to doughnuts that there's a bunch of OTMs in there," Border Patrol agent Eddie Flores says, bringing his SUV to a stop. He's right: This group consists of one Honduran, six Brazilians and the rest Costa Ricans, all unfazed at being apprehended by immigration officers.

One Brazilian woman smiles, even, then fires off something in Portuguese.

Agent Julio Garcia translates: "They're depending on me."

They're depending on the system charged with capturing unlawful entrants to help them go free. Nowadays, OTMs often flock to Border Patrol agents instead of fleeing them.

Of the 834,731 apprehensions made by the Border Patrol so far this fiscal year, 100,142 were non-Mexican arrests. That's a 137 percent increase from the 42,167 non-Mexicans arrested in the year of the 9-11 attacks.

Illegal immigrants from Mexico and Canada typically choose to voluntarily depart and can be returned home almost immediately upon being caught. Those from other countries must undergo deportation proceedings and await flights to their homes. Growing numbers of those are freed with a notice-to-appear because of lack of holding space.

The so-called catch-and-release arrangement happens most frequently in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, where 91 percent of non-Mexicans caught by Border Patrol agents are then freed, statistics show.

Most of those arrested in the region are from Brazil, Honduras and El Salvador, though arrests of illegal immigrants from the 35 special-interest countries doubled from two dozen in fiscal 2003 to about four dozen in fiscal 2004, according to internal Border Patrol statistics obtained by The Associated Press.

Detention space, meanwhile, has barely grown.

In the past two years, Congress funded 19,444 immigration-detention beds nationally, says Manny Van Pelt, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. An extra 1,950 bed spaces were approved in May.

Unless the entrant is a convict or on a watch list, there often is no room in detention and the migrants are cut loose.

"It's creating an environment in which people can go around unnoticed," said James Edwards Jr. of the conservative Hudson Institute think tank. "They can easily obtain false identities. ... That's a mighty big risk to take."

Authorities say a new expedited removal program, focusing on the quick return of non-Mexicans to their home countries, has resulted in 7,000 deportations. Still, word is out among migrants that if they can make it across the border, they might get walking papers.

Homeland-security officials say spotting would-be terrorists is the top priority of border guards. But veteran line officers say databases can't always detect whether a migrant is using a fake name. And while they're processing OTMs, other illegal entrants are getting by.

465,000 at large

The Harlingen Immigration Court, one of 53 nationwide, incurs more no-shows than any other: 87 percent of migrants failed to appear and were ordered deported "in absentia" in fiscal 2004. Nationally, that failure-to-appear rate stands at 22 percent.

ICE estimates that a cumulative 465,000 illegal immigrants have received final orders of removal but remain at large.

The list now includes four of the six Brazilians whom Flores and Garcia apprehended under the hackberry tree.

Twenty-four hours after they were caught, the group walked out of Border Patrol custody. A shuttle operated by the Harlingen bus station provided a ride to the terminal. There, after presenting a clerk with their permisos, the Brazilians each bought $25 one-way tickets to Houston, where they planned to get connecting flights. They boarded the 10:30 p.m. bus, smiling.

Only two returned for their June 9 court date. The four no-shows were ordered deported "in absentia."

COMING TOMORROW

Balancing the historic openness of the U.S.-Canada border with today's caution is a challenge the two nations still have not mastered -- and some fear the continued ambivalence could be harmful.