Detention system effectively weeds out illegal immigrants

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, Ranking member, House Judiciary Committee - Washington

USA TODAY's recent editorial "Immigrant detention system ensnares American citizens" ignores the fact that immigration detention is critical to enforcing U.S. laws (Our view, Standards of justice debate, March 25).

In regard to U.S. citizens being detained: Federal officials testified before Congress that it is common to encounter individuals who make false claims about their immigration status or citizenship in order to evade deportation. If their citizenship can be proved, they are not detained.

Those who want amnesty don't like detention not because it is ineffective, but rather because it is effective. It ensures that those ordered deported actually leave.

In the old days of "catch and release," the Justice Department's inspector general report found that only 13% of non-detained illegal immigrants with final removal orders from Oct. 1, 2000, through Dec. 31, 2001, were returned home. What's worse, only 6% of non-detained illegal immigrants from countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism who had final removal orders during the period studied were deported.

So-called alternatives to detention do not work. Even under the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, one-third of the "supervised" illegal immigrants who are ordered deported ignore their deportation orders. Because of a lack of immigration detention space, the number of fugitive illegal immigrants rose from 331,000 in 2001 to a record 632,000 by 2006, with an estimated 80,000 of those having criminal records.

Individuals who broke our laws to come here illegally will not automatically comply with our laws after they are caught and ordered to leave. We cannot afford to pretend they will, particularly when history and common sense dictate otherwise.

The U.S. immigration detention system works and serves a useful purpose.

Posted at 12:09 AM/ET, April 02, 2009 in Immigration - Letters
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