Deported Immigrants Come Back to the United States
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 The
U.S. Border Patrol is often catching immigrants who were previously
deported.
For many it is not their first time, but rather the third or fourth deportation
or sometimes more. One of these individuals is Jose Ricardo Garcia
who has been deported four times and served an equal amount of prison terms in
the United States. His previous convictions include illegal entry, vehicle
theft, assault and drug possession. Garcia came into the United States as a
child legally but later lost his legal status. Each time he was
deported he made
his way back into the country like many others. Some of the immigrants who are
deported especially the younger ones have lived most of their life in the United
States. So, it is highly likely that they will attempt to get back across the
border. They are accustomed to the American way of life and some cannot speak
Spanish fluently. In addition, they tend to have family and friends in the
United States. Many times when the U.S. Border Patrol deports individuals they
drop them off at a border city. There are others who are flown further into
Central Mexico or somewhere equally distant, but for the most part they are
released not too far away in a Mexican border city. Officials in Mexican border
cities have long voiced their concern for immigrants being released in their
cities because it tends to bring more crime. While some immigrants will head
back to the city where they came from after being disillusioned in their
attempts to get to the United States, many will remain in the border city and
wait for the “right” opportunity to come along to make another attempt.
Some immigrant gangsters who have been deported will stay in Mexico or head back
to Central America and recruit more gang members in their homeland. The numbers of members of just this gang
are in the thousands and they terrorize neighborhoods with their drug-dealing,
thefts and other crimes. At some point, many end up making their way back to the
United States. A Border Patrol agent estimated that about 15% of immigrants
detained are immigrants that have previously committed a crime in the United
States. While in the jail system, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) have been more aggressive in identifying illegal immigrants or legal
residents with previous crimes so they can be deported after serving their
sentence. The Secure Border Initiative introduced in 2005 aims to have 90% of
all federal inmates and state inmates born outside the U.S. screened by the ICE
by the fall of 2008. In the second half of 2009 ICE is looking to have this
similar screening set up at large city jails across the nation. To achieve these
goals, President Bush has requested nearly $30 million for the Department of
Homeland Security, so that ICE can introduce 22 additional teams that will focus
on the Criminal Alien Program. Since 1996 amended immigration laws have
facilitated the deportation of legal residents in the U.S. who have committed
certain petty crimes within a particular time period or have been convicted of a
felony. Another change was the expansion of what actions fall under the term
aggravated felony.
The U.S. Border Patrol can now more easily identify
immigrants with prior
offenses (drug-related and violence) by putting their names into a federal
database. One hit equals one offense so one individual can have multiple hits.
During the 2006 fiscal year, nearly 90,000 individuals were deported due to
their criminal past. The majority (nearly 75%) of these deportees were Mexicans.
For the approximately 1.1 million illegal immigrants detained last fiscal year
by the U.S. Border Patrol nearly 70,000 hits came up. They had prior offenses in
the U.S. with immigration violations being excluded from this count. In order to
discourage immigrants who have previously been
deported from the U.S. and are
caught trying to enter the U.S. again, they are being charged with felonies. In
the past immigrants would have likely just have been deported again, but now the
U.S. government is taking a tougher stance and charging them with felonies for
illegally reentering the country after being deported. Officials are hoping that
a longer prison term will discourage many illegal immigrants with criminal
offenses from returning. While there is no denying that immigrants with criminal
backgrounds try to make their way back to the U.S. after
deportation, they are a
minority as most immigrants have clean records. Improvements continue to be made
along the U.S.-Mexico border and more Border Patrol agents have been hired, but
this is no deterrence to many immigrants. Conditions in their homelands give
them little incentive to return and the opportunity for a better life seems
within reach no matter how many challenges they may face along their journey.
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