According to current U.S immigration policy, every non-citizen convicted of any charge among a long list of misdemeanor and felony offenses is automatically deported, even if the conviction is for a non-violent offense or one that occurred many years ago. Immigrants living in the United States legally, including legal permanent residents, can be permanently banned based on a single criminal conviction. Although hundreds of thousands of people have been permanently deported from the United States under this policy, most Americans are unaware that it's happening.
We're a three-person reporting team based on the U.S-Mexico border covering issues related to deportation. Ultimately, we hope our work will illuminate a variety of issues related to mass deportation based on aggravated felonies, and increase public awareness around these issues. Got a question? Comment? Chime in and leave your thoughts in the comment section below our columns.
One of the most criticized aspects of this aspect of deportation policy is its mandatory nature. Even if the individual subject to deportation grew up in the United States and has no memories of her country of origin, there are no exceptions to this blanket deportation requirement. After serving jail or prison sentences, those subject to deportation are transferred to the custody of ICE for immediate deportation. After deportation, these people are banned from returning to the United States, the country many consider home, for the rest of their lives.
As producers for the 2006 PBS film Sentenced Home noted, "Not only are non-citizens vulnerable to retroactive convictions of deportable offenses -- including minor crimes like shoplifting committed decades earlier -- but these convictions trigger an irreversible chain reaction that ends in permanent exile without a chance to protest." Human rights advocates and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have criticized the mandatory nature of deportations under this law.
Judges have no discretion to allow people to remain in the country, even when they have grown up here, been educated here, and have children who were born here. Not surprisingly, immigration court judges are troubled that they have been stripped of all discretion under this law. One retired immigration court judge expressed frustration with "not being able to grant relief to someone because of the precise requirements of the statute, even though on a personal level he appears to be worthy of some immigration benefit." Because immigration courts are civil and not criminal, immigrants have no guaranteed right to counsel.
Since Congress passed The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, well over a million people have been deported. According to ICE Deputy Director Kumar Kibble, in 2010 "ICE removed a record 195,772 criminal aliens, more than any other year in history, and 81,000 more criminal removals than in FY 2008." ICE has also expanded its "Secure Communities" program, which works with local law enforcement agencies to identify non-citizens convicted of crimes for possible deportation. With a mandate to deport around 400,000 people per year, the amount of money that ICE is spending on deportation has swelled: in fiscal year 2005, $3.6 billion was spent; by 2009 that number was $5.9 billion. Additionally, funds allocated for ICE'S Criminal Alien Program, which targets immigrants with criminal convictions, has increased 204 percent.
The impact of deportation reaches far beyond a deported individual. Two years ago, the Urban Institute reported an estimated 5.5 million kids in the United States are the children of undocumented immigrants, and of these, roughly 4.5 million are American citizens. During the first six months of this year, ICE reported around 45,000 immigrant parents of U.S. citizen children were deported.
Last year, the Applied Research Center spent a year researching how many children ended up in the U.S. foster care system because their parents have been detained or deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Their findings were shocking: around 5,100 children of undocumented immigrants were in state care, and in many instances, had been cut off completely from communicating with their families. One-fifth of foster care children are subsequently adopted, permanently severing existing family ties.
Through the spring, our team, supported by a fellowship from the Open Society Foundation in NYC, will be researching the impacts of U.S. deportation policy, beginning with the effects on U.S. citizen children now living in Mexico. We'll also be looking at government spending, national security, education, families, the judicial system, and more.
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hmmmm? scratching head???
Sounds like a simple way to avoid the hazzards of deportation is to not be an illegal alien???
What's the problem?
Non-violent crime? Does that include fraud, identity theft, cocaine possession, meth possession.... Those sort of things?
http://www.ojjpac.org/memorial.asp
One that never seems to be addressed is how US immigration laws compare to those of other nations in our hemisphere. Are our objectionable because they in fact are more draconian than those of the Latin countries? Or are they, as rumored, far more lenient?
Do other nations allow unauthorized foreigners to remain? Do they allow legally admitted foreigners guilty of any crime to remain? Do they deport individuals who brought their families illegally alone or with their families?
If the answer to these questions is negative, we should carefully consider whether we are being taken advantage of in the reform of our laws being asked of us.
Our immigration laws do indeed need to be reformed but those reforms should be to benefit the US and it's citizens, not the foreigners who wish to come here and the nations they are from.
And the answer to the first question is a that our laws are in fact far more forgiving than those of the nations demanding change.
We are the only nation in this hemisphere that allows anyone who crosses the border by any means they like to remain after they have violated the laws of the nation.
This needs to be changed in the direction of much more strict enforcement of our laws and reconsideration of existing laws that make this possible.
I only have sympathy for their VICTIMS who usually are American citizens. We have enough of our home grown crooks, and we most certainly don't need to import them or leave them here to prey on us once again.
Do other nations deport foreigners who commit crimes? Is any criminal act the threshold or do they only deport those found guilty of felonies?
Do other nations consider illegal entry and presence a civil matter or a felony?
Do people being deported have the option of having children go along with them or having their nondeported families join them? If not, why?
If an minor crosses the border without permission, are they subject to deportation?
Do any nations have reciprocity agreements with the US on such matters?
From what age does a child have no memory of their country?
Do other nations allow individuals who entered illegally to remain because they have family?
Do other nations deport families along with them?
Internationally, is the US considered to be ALLOWED to set it's own immigration laws or must they be approved by the Latin nations? How do their policies compare?
5,100 foster children is not really very many considering the number of citizen children introduced to foster care every year. In FY 2010 254,000 American children entered the foster care system for one reason or another. How are they any different from citizens?
These are questions that need answers. Reform of our laws should be in the direction of matching the policies of other nations. Such laws should benefit the receiving country, not the immigrants.
Yes, almost without exception. Though usually only for violent crimes, drug crimes and DUI.
Do other nations consider illegal entry and presence a civil matter or a felony?
Usually it is a crime that can result in incarceration. In Singapore it will result in caning.
Do people being deported have the option of having children go along with them or having their non-deported families join them?
That depends on the laws of the country they are going to and how those laws treat "jus sanguine" citizenship claims.
If an minor crosses the border without permission, are they subject to deportation?
Yes. Any alien who does not submit to inspection by immigration authorities prior to entry is subject to removal.
Most do not, though some will depending on the circumstances.
Do other nations deport families along with them?
Yes. Children born in other nations to illegal parents are NOT citizens at birth. The United States is the ONLY first word nation that confers citizenship purely on the basis of being born within it's borders. No other nation does this, nearly all require that at least one parent be a legal PERMANENT resident or a citizen.
Internationally, is the US considered to be ALLOWED to set it's own immigration laws?
For the most part yes, but it does have treaty obligations with respect to genuine asylum seekers and refugees.
How do their policies compare?
In most Latin nation illegal entry is punishable by imprisonment and heavy fines (as is overstaying a Visa).
How are [foster children] they any different from citizens?
The major difference is many may not be able to speak English, making fostering them more difficult for the foster families. For spanish speaking kids it's not as bad, but an Urdu speaking child will have a tough time finding a foster family he or she can communicate with.
If you came home and found a stranger in your home would you wait for them to steal or hurt someone to have them removed? Nobody would - so why do we allow that exact thing from illegals?
I have to say though, that it isn't really that hard to avoid committing crimes.
And those of us that are aware of the practice applaud it everyday and regularly support politicians who work to further the economic, environmental and security needs of US citizens.