Deportation Nation

Kerry Howley | November 6, 2007

Here's some news to warm Lou Barletta's heart: ICE is locking up record numbers of people.

Aggressive immigration enforcement has led to record numbers of detainees in California and around the nation, prompting the federal government to speed up deportations and increasingly rely on transfers and contracts with local jails and private companies.

The detainee population jumped to nearly 27,900 nationwide in fiscal year 2007, up from about 19,700 the previous year, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In California, the population increased to more than 3,700, up from a little more than 3,200 last year.

The number of immigrants deported has risen to more than 261,000 in fiscal 2007, up from about 177,000 two years ago. 

The immigration agency's budget for bed space skyrocketed to $945 million last year, up from $641 million in fiscal year 2005.

Deportation is becoming more common as local officers are increasingly authorized to enforce immigration laws. Earlier this year, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and ICE managed to deport a U.S. citizen.

Comments

Keith|11.6.07 @ 1:30PM|#

Finally, the chilling predictions put forth in Cheech Marin's Born in East LA are coming to pass.

|11.6.07 @ 1:32PM|#

When did INS become ICE? No offense to my 'mo brothers, but that is the gayest acronym evar.

Keith, you beat me to it. Damn you!

TLB|11.6.07 @ 1:41PM|#

It probably wouldn't be difficult for me to find groups that have links to the MexicanGovernment harping on ICE making an isolated mistake, with the clear intent of tying ICE's hands. Expect those with a financial stake in the matter to harp on this case as a way of continuing to profit from illegal activity.

On a related note, a racial power group recently released a report

me|11.6.07 @ 1:42PM|#

w00t!

TLB|11.6.07 @ 1:42PM|#

PART TWO:

On a related note, a racial power group recently released a report downplaying IdentityTheft (but only when performed by foreign citizens who are here illegally, of course).

On a brighter note, since "libertarians" refuse to support our current laws, after the Great Libertarian Revolution happens I suggest we ignore their laws.

shecky|11.6.07 @ 1:44PM|#

Government agencies get larger, more people under scrutiny, what's there not to love?

Episiarch|11.6.07 @ 1:45PM|#

Took a walk to the CornerStore/just to buy a LoafOfBread and a BoxOfSmokes
Saw a guy in YellowVan/ShinyGoldBadge flashing in HisHand...

thoreau|11.6.07 @ 1:45PM|#

after the Great Libertarian Revolution happens I suggest we ignore their laws.

ThatShouldBEFAirlYEASySinCETHereWILLBESOFewLaws.

Jennifer|11.6.07 @ 1:47PM|#

Hooray! Now that we're locking up all them IllegalImmigrants, we'll solve this-here IllegalImmigrationProblem just as quickly as we've solved the NonAlcoholicDrug problem!

|11.6.07 @ 2:05PM|#

Locking up the illegal immigrants, then sending them back to re-enter, does seem like a waste of money to me. OTOH, if you jailed some employers, who likely vote for republicans, ...

We demand cheap unskilled labor, yet don't want cheap unskilled laborers in our midst. The numbers, 27,900 detained and 261,000 deported ain't a fart in a whirlwind. The courage to deal with labor immigration does not seem to exist in DC.

[Channeling Cassandra] It's going to get worse before it gets better.

jtuf|11.6.07 @ 2:12PM|#

So let's tripple the immigration quotas for each country. It's a quick way to improve immigration law while we wait for congress to iron out a better system.

|11.6.07 @ 2:13PM|#

All I know is that I'm sure that this thread is going to contain a large number of thoughtful and reasoned arguments. Being as it is on immigration and all.

"Day tuk r jurbs! turk ur jrbs! Drk de durr!"

|11.6.07 @ 2:17PM|#

I have a friend who was deported. He was in an imigration detention center in Texas for 5 months, until INS had enough illegal immigrants to deport to South America (I suppose deportation to Mexico is often since its across the border). He told me about a couple of Cuban detainees who couldnt be sent back to Cuba but could not be set free in the US. So they were just there... waiting. These Cubans had been "detained for deportation" for over 4 years...

|11.6.07 @ 2:20PM|#

Oddly enough, my friend who was deported LOVES the US and believes the US should have STRICTER immigration policies. Go figure.

|11.6.07 @ 2:23PM|#

ICE did a big raid in New Bedfore, MA earlier this year.

They actually took a nursing mother away from her baby, who ended up in the hospital with dehydration.

But, hey, giving these people legal documents might cause people to feel disrespect towards the rule of law, and we can't have that.

ktc2|11.6.07 @ 2:31PM|#

Hmm....illegal immigrants and sex offenders back to back. Let the witch hunts/burnings begin.

|11.6.07 @ 2:36PM|#

Hey jtuf, trebling the immigration quotas wont change a thing, the people who are the problem dont worry about quotas anyway, they sneak in hence why they're illegal.
I'm for letting the world in but by god they should register with the authorities as they come in the door and pay income and all the other taxes the legals do to support the services they're gonna want to use.

|11.6.07 @ 2:40PM|#

When did INS become ICE?

INS (DOJ) merged with the Customs Service (Treasury) and became Immigration and Customs enforcemment and were moved to DHS.

Part of the whole reoraganization thing when we got our very own Interior Ministry.

BATF became BATFE at the same time.

|11.6.07 @ 2:47PM|#

Yea, sure, EWhite. They'd really rather face death in the desert and pay thousands to coyotes than apply for proper documentation in air conditioned offices. They're not just racially inferior they're masochistic as well, eh?

jtuf, tripling the quotas will not help much if they do not streamline the processing process. Even those in the most preferred immigrant classes face months (at best) or even years in delays of processing paperwork. It would also require hiring a lot more personel to hand the load.

|11.6.07 @ 2:50PM|#

BATF became BATFE at the same time.

The "We don't make your products - we help make them better" folks?

|11.6.07 @ 3:09PM|#

"I'm for letting the world in but by god they should register with the authorities as they come in the door and pay income and all the other taxes the legals do to support the services they're gonna want to use."

I would go one step further;

Make all incoming immigrants demonstrate a financial ability to live in the society with a certain amount of verifiable funding and pledge not to apply for any kind of public assistance under any circumstances

|11.6.07 @ 3:24PM|#

Make all incoming immigrants demonstrate a financial ability to live in the society with a certain amount of verifiable funding and pledge not to apply for any kind of public assistance under any circumstances"

Yeah, that is all fine and dandy but I dont think you understand that MOST illegal immigrants come to the US to WORK, to MAKE money, money they DONT have and WONT acquire where they are presently living (i.e. Mexico, South America). NOT because they think the US is just so great and the people are so wonderful and the culture is so rich.(except for my friend who WAS deported- he really likes the US). NOPE. Not most of them.
These people dont have the economic resources (or the time- as Issac points out) to go through the legal immigration process. So they run for the border, or fly in legally but overstay their visa.
So, while your suggestion may work with those coming into the US legally, it does NOTHING to alleviate the problem of illegal immigration.

|11.6.07 @ 3:29PM|#

"I'm for letting the world in but by god they should register with the authorities as they come in the door and pay income and all the other taxes the legals do to support the services they're gonna want to use."

I agree. However, as I mentioned before, we are talking about illegal immigration. And let me tell you many illegals work with a fake social security number and taxes are deducted from their paycheck on THAT SS#. They also pay sales tax when they purchase products in the US. So I dont think you can quite make an argument they are freeloading off of your tax dollars.

TLB|11.6.07 @ 3:38PM|#

joe, as could be expected, is spreading NYT-originating lies above. One baby was already in the hospital, and the NYT failed to produce any other baby when BOR asked: lonewacko.com/blog/archives/006447.html

On a related note, a MiamiHerald columnist says that unless we have "reform", we'll have a "LatinoIntifada".

In fact, JohnMcCain said something similar a while back.

What this means is that we've been invaded and now we're hearing their terms: capitulate or face violence. And, if we capitulate now we'll have to capitulate again. And, that also means that those who helped get us into the current situation are no better than VidkunQuislingg.

|11.6.07 @ 3:41PM|#

I've never read the NYT in my life, Wacko.

I live here. I saw the story reported locally.

Geoff Nathan|11.6.07 @ 4:02PM|#

What this means is that we've been invaded and now we're hearing their terms: capitulate or face violence. And, if we capitulate now we'll have to capitulate again. And, that also means that those who helped get us into the current situation are no better than VidkunQuislingg.

Err..exactly what are we going to 'capitulate' to. Illegal Mexican and other Latin American immigrants don't, to the best of my knowledge, represent any kind of organized anthing, and don't want anything from us except the ability to work, earn money and send it home to their poorer relatives. Also better their lives. Also stay out of trouble. I would have no problem capitulating to any of those desires.
Sure, there may be some Al Qaeda-types masquerading as wetbacks, but most of the 9/11 hijackers were in the country legally, and I suspect the next attack will come from the same (legal) population, or even from native-born malcontents. None of this paranoia makes any sense...

Geoff Nathan|11.6.07 @ 4:06PM|#

corrections (I am an English professor, after all...)

anthing --> anything
'capitulate to.' --> 'capitulate to?'

proofread! proofread! spellcheck!

(note spellchecker doesn't like 'spellcheck' or 'spellchecker')

TLB|11.6.07 @ 4:55PM|#

joe: then you should be able to find a credible news article substantiating your claim. (Hint: if the NYT and BOR were unable to find that, you probably won't).

And, apparently they're making college professors dumber than they used to; riots usually start with a small group of agitators and large numbers of followers. See, well, every riot ever held. See also ElPlanDeSanDiego.

Perhaps these will help clear things up:

dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/04-06/0409march.jpg
nontroppo.org/blog/images/larally.jpg
thebernoullieffect.com/archives/photos/GREATWE-ARE-INDIGENOUS.jpg

(For the libertarians: yes, I know most of those were peaceful. However, whenever you have so many people doing one thing that's a show of force. It's also an indicator of the ability of small numbers of people to agitate the masses into an activity.)

|11.6.07 @ 5:08PM|#

TLB,

Here you go.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/09/dss_to_check_on_detainees_sent_to_texas/

Very first hit on Boston Globe New Bedford dehydration.

|11.6.07 @ 5:42PM|#

"Invaded?" "Demands?" The only thing being invaded here is this website with self-serving references to YOUR blog.

TLB|11.6.07 @ 11:21PM|#

I erred above: it wasn't that the baby was already in the hospital, it was that there were two babies and both were already ill:

Last week, The New York Times printed an editorial entitled "Immigration Misery." And the first line of the piece went like this. "A screaming baby girl has been forcibly weaned from breast milk and taken dehydrated to an emergency room so that the nation's borders will be secure." Well, that did not happen. There were two babies admitted to two Massachusetts hospitals after a federal raid on a New Bedford factory that was exploiting illegal workers. But both babies had pneumonia, which caused dehydration according to doctors. No "weaning" was involved... So why did The New York Times distort the facts? Well, many committed left media want blanket amnesty for illegal aliens and a continuous flow of foreign nationals into the USA.

Hey, looks like Reason and the far-left have yet another thing in common.

|11.7.07 @ 9:35AM|#

By my estimate at the new rate of detainees we should be free of all illegals in roughly 430 years. Thats based on no more coming in during that time and assuming we only have 12 million here to begin with.

Jim|11.7.07 @ 11:36AM|#

"Deportation is becoming more common as local officers are increasingly authorized to enforce immigration laws"

From the tone of the blog entry it would seem you think this is a bad thing. Why is that exactly? Or perhaps you think our law enforcement agencies should just ignore the laws they are tasked to enforce

Chavez is a thug|11.7.07 @ 11:39AM|#

"But, hey, giving these people legal documents might cause people to feel disrespect towards the rule of law, and we can't have that.'

Jesus, this was rebutted so long ago, the fact you are still citing it proves what a total fucking moron you are.

Chavez is a thug|11.7.07 @ 11:47AM|#

"ICE did a big raid in New Bedfore, MA earlier this year.

They actually took a nursing mother away from her baby, who ended up in the hospital with dehydration"

My above post should have contained this quotation as well.

|11.7.07 @ 2:56PM|#

Oh, gee, you read that on Fox News' page.

Some people are so freaking gullible.