Thread: Undocumented jail prisoners mirror metro area population

Undocumented jail prisoners mirror metro area population

State records - Types of crimes and prisoner numbers differ little between legal and illegal residents
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Sunday, August 19, 2007ESMERALDA BERMUDEZ The Oregonian Staff
In Oregon state prisons and Portland metro-area jails, presumed illegal immigrants make up a small percentage of those behind bars, and their crime rates are on par with the general population, statistics show.

The types of crimes that send them to prison also compares with the general inmate population, according to a review of state records.

And though the combined cost to state taxpayers of incarcerating these inmates exceeds an estimated $26 million a year, prison and jail authorities are split on how much of a problem illegal immigrants pose.

From Oregon to New Jersey, crimes committed this summer by illegal immigrants have come under scrutiny, riling critics who blame unauthorized foreigners for overburdening the criminal system.

Some people caution that recent events should not be used to typecast the illegal immigrant community. Others point to two illegal immigrants accused in the Clackamas County slaying of 15-year-old Dani Countryman and contend that crime among those who slip into the country without permission is significant, much more than figures show.

In Oregon's state prisons, more than 1,000 inmates have federal immigration "detainers," meaning they will probably be deported after serving their sentences. That is about 7 percent of the state's inmate population of 13,300.

Their crimes mirror those most commonly committed by other convicts in the state prisons: sex violations, assault, rape, drugs and murder.

And they represent 0.6 percent of the estimated 175,000 unauthorized immigrants in Oregon, even as the remaining prison population represents 0.3 percent of the state population.

Numbers show that disproportionate violence among illegal immigrants is a matter of perceived threat, not reality, says Randy Blazak, associate professor of sociology with Portland State University.

"We must remember not to generalize a group of people based on the actions of an individual," he said.

But jail and prison figures are sorely underestimated, said Jim Ludwick, president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform. A fool-proof system of status checks in state and county facilities would reveal that many more illegal immigrants are committing crimes.

"It's not profiling," he said. "The truth is the truth."


"Part of the larger mix"

As of early July, fewer than 100 inmates in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas county jails had "immigration holds" placed on them by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with help from local authorities. Those inmates represented less than 4 percent of the nearly 2,600 inmates in the three county jail systems.

Inmates are flagged through a series of checks that differ from one agency to another. Some people are in the country illegally, and others are permanent residents whose status is at risk because of the seriousness of their crimes.

Other illegal immigrants slip through the system without being signaled and, as a result, are not deported. Alejandro Emeterio Rivera Gamboa, one of two men charged with the July killing of Countryman, went unflagged despite two convictions for drunken driving in 2006.

Officials with the Department of Corrections and Multnomah County say inmates with ICE holds do not pose additional challenges to the system.

"They're just another part of the larger mix," said Capt. Jay Heidenrich, facility services commander for Multnomah County jails.

Though the county's two jails (with a capacity of 1,690) periodically face overcrowding, the 40 or so inmates with immigration holds have no impact on operations.

In Washington County, Sheriff Rob Gordon sees things differently. The jail, with its 572 beds usually full or close to full, does not struggle with capacity problems as it did two years ago.

But limited space still puts the jail in a Catch-22 when it comes to illegal immigrants. The more inmates there are with ICE holds, the less room there is for the general inmate population, Gordon said.

"You hear a lot of people say, 'Stop them if they go to jail. They should have a hold,' " he said. "But we don't have unlimited space. ICE isn't going to open new jails for us, and jails are expensive to run."

The problem intensifies in the Clackamas County jail, where overcrowding is severe. Four hundred to 500 inmates are force-released monthly for lack of space. Those with ICE holds don't enter the equation. In late June, six inmates out of about 350 had holds.

"Even if it's three beds," said Detective Jim Strovink with the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, "we have to ask ourselves, 'Who else can we release that's the least danger to society?' "

Illegal immigrants convicted of drunken driving, like Rivera Gamboa, are more likely to dodge an ICE detainer in Clackamas County because the majority of those people are released before arraignment because of space concerns.


Steady level over decade


Though attention to illegal immigrants has magnified in the past two years, Oregon's population of inmates with ICE detainers has remained at about 7 percent for more than a decade.

That, to some, brings little relief.

"If illegal aliens weren't in our country in the first place, those crimes wouldn't be occurring," said Ludwick, one of Oregon's most active anti-illegal immigration advocates. "It wouldn't eliminate crime. But we've got enough homegrown rapists and murderers. We don't need to import more."

From his cell at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, Leobardo Pardo-Torres said he understands he should be deported.

The 33-year-old is serving three years for a drug conviction. He left Michoacan, Mexico, six years ago, entered the United States illegally and eventually settled in Salem with his wife and children. He worked selling auction cars until he was arrested in March.

Now, with two years of his sentence remaining, Pardo-Torres has a soccer-ball-size hernia he's suffered with for more than a year. He says he needs surgery but has been told the state considers his procedure too costly.

State officials said illnesses of illegal immigrants are treated the same as the general population, and his case "is not an emergency situation." When Pardo-Torres completes his sentence, he will be turned over to federal immigration officials and eventually deported.

"It's not a matter of whether I deserve to be kicked out of the country," Pardo-Torres said in a telephone interview. "I accept I made a mistake, and I need to leave because it's the best thing for this country."

Before he goes, however, he said he plans to ask the state to train him with a professional trade so he can make a living when he returns to Mexico.

"This way I won't have to return," he said.

Esmeralda Bermudez: 503-294-5961; ebermudez@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonia ... thispage=1

Oooh, did I mangle this version of the same story (I had posted it earlier this a.m.)?
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=78413

Just curious...

Esmeralda Bermudez:

Many Americans considered biased and false articles such as yours titled "Undocumented jail prisoners mirror metro area population" to be a strong contributing factor to the many terrible assaults, rapes, and murders that Americans are suffering at the hands of illegal aliens.

How can we as a nation craft responsible policies when reporters, such as yourself, create articles that are so deceptive?

The headline of your article should have read "Illegal Immigrants jailed for crimes at twice the Oregon average!"

It took me about five minutes online to look up both the population estimates for the State of Oregon and the Pew Hispanic Center estimates for the number of illegal aliens in Oregon.

The US Census estimates the population for the state of Oregon at approximately 3,700,000 for the year 2006 while the Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population high range at 88,000 while the Oregon Labor department estimates the 2005 high range at 132,000.

Even if we use both estimates in the highest range, simple math tells us the following.

At 88,000 illegal aliens would make up only 2.4% of the total population of Oregon. At 132,000 they would make up approximately 3.6%!

If we accept your statement that 7% of Oregon's inmates have an ICE detainer on them, this indicates that illegal aliens are at least twice as likely to commit crimes! That is a 200% increase over the average American living in Oregon.

Your own mathematics show this. While I do not know, but would like to know, where you got the ultra high 175,000 illegal alien estimate for the state of Oregon, if .6 percent of illegal aliens are in jail while only .3 percent of the legal American population is in jail, this indicates that illegal aliens are indeed twice as likely or 200% more likely to commit crimes than US citizens!

When you take into consideration that illegal aliens are much more likely to escape prosecution for crimes due to language barriers, mobility, use of fake identities, and lack of ties to the community, we can clearly acknowledge that the problem is much worse than double the American rate!

William Gheen
President, Americans for Legal Immigration PAC
www.alipac.us

Everyone, please check my math and facts before I blow this propaganda garbage out of the water.

W

The logic/estimates look reasonable.

I'd tend to give more credence to the higher end estimates for the illegal population here. I've seen some estimates of 200,000+ for recent years...

Based on what I've seen here locally, yeah, the high-end is closest to reality for sure...

Esmeralda has a way of always producing 'journalism' which is outwardly friendly to, or sympathetic to, illegals. No wonder the Oregonian newspaper is going down - downsizing, laying-off staff, etc. Has anyone there thought to ask themselves.... why?

The underlying thesis of the article should have been made crystal clear for the reader - that... Illegals commit crimes in no greater scale (scope?) than do legal citizens and/or residents (which, BTW, I do not happen to agree with)

That is what Esmeralda was really trying to demonstrate but couldn't come right out and clearly say. We've all heard the pro-illegal crowd make the comparison or argument before.

While the exact proportion or estimates can be argued ad nauseum for days, weeks, or months, the simple fact that any illegal commits a serious crime is enough for this citizen to call the entire system into question.
While one murder, rape, assault might not seem like much, when it is close family member, friend,... someone you know and care about, well, that one is too many.

Her own estimates show that illegals are twice as likely to commit crimes than Americans in OR!

W

Using her own math, if we were to replace every American in Oregon with illegal aliens, the prison population would swell from 13,300

to .006 * 3,700,000 to 22, 200 !

William, years ago my brother was trained as a reserve deputy for Clackamas county. While in this training, the discussion of dempgraphics came up simply as fact.

It was stated them to him that while Latino (he said he believes the instructor was mainly referring to illegal aliens) population in Oregon was at about 7%, the rate of the same group within the statewide jails and prisons system was at 39%. WOW!!!!

If these numbers are correct, that to me was staggering.

Since he is no longer working with them he does not know any current numbers, but I wonder how the latest numbers could be found. I'll poke around.

As for Ms. Bermudez, she's the one who did not like my answer at my rally in downtown Portland, where she asked me if I considered ourselves middle class or upper middle class. I laughed and said neither, lower class (I told her our annual income and the fact that we had no running car). She walked away without a word. Guess she did not like the fact that here was a "poor" "white" housewife from a blue collar family protesting illegal immigration, it did not fit her own stereotype of white people I presume.

And wait just a second. If ICE has a detainer on 7% of the Oregon jail population, won't that number be very low since OR has sanctuary policies in place?

W