Bait and Switch: ICE Says Program Targets "Dangerous Criminals" but Casts Wide Net

Over the past several years, ICE has increased the number of partnerships with state and local police. There has also been a new emphasis on identifying “criminal aliens” who are detained in jails and prisons, and deporting them once they finish their sentences. However, many concerns have been raised about how these programs are being implemented. In fact, various reports have shown that while ICE claims they are targeting serious criminals, the majority of persons ICE identifies and deports do not actually have any serious criminal records.

A new report by the Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity at the University of California, Berkeley documents how ICE’s Criminal Alien Program (CAP) has failed to target serious criminal immigrants for deportation, and how profiling and pretextual arrests have increased as a result of CAP’s expansion.

The CAP Effect: Racial Profiling in the ICE Criminal Alien Program analyzes the Irving, Texas CAP program. Irving is a city in Dallas County with a population of 196,000—41.2% of which are Hispanic. In 2006, Irving entered into a CAP partnership with ICE which allows Irving law enforcement officials to investigate the immigration status of individuals in their local jail. Local police make referrals to ICE when they suspect that a detainee is undocumented. ICE then reviews the individual’s immigration status and decides whether to place a “detainer” on the immigrant. A detainer is a request from ICE that the local jail hold the individual in custody for up to 48 hours during which ICE decides whether or not to assume custody of the person and initiate deportation procedures.

From 2006 to April 2007, ICE officials visited the Irving jail up to five times per week to conduct investigations and make detainer decisions. In April 2007, the Irving program changed dramatically. Not only did ICE grant Irving law enforcement round-the-clock ICE access, they also conducted remote teleconferences rather than in-person jail visits to determine whether to place detainers on immigrants.