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We're Getting Better at Deporting Convicts

More than half of those sent packing in last year were criminal offenders

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 18, 2011 10:32 AM CDT

(Newser) – The US is not only deporting more illegal immigrants than ever, it’s doing a better job of booting actual convicts, according to figures released today by Homeland Security. The US deported 396,906 people in fiscal 2011, a new record, USA Today reports, and 55% of those deported were convicted criminals—a nearly 10-year high. That group includes 1,119 people convicted of homicide and 5,848 who committed sexual crimes.

The increase is thanks in part to an Obama administration directive to center deportation efforts around convicts, which the director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement calls a "focus on sensible immigration." He explains, "In the face of limited resources, we have to prioritize, and that starts with criminal offenders." Conservative critics counter that the administration is granting a free pass to non-offending illegal immigrants, while immigration advocates complain that the percentage of non-convict deportees is still too high.

An undocumented Guatemalan immigrant, chained for being charged as a criminal, prepares to board a deportation flight to Guatemala City, June 24, 2011 in Mesa, Arizona.
An undocumented Guatemalan immigrant, chained for being charged as a criminal, prepares to board a deportation flight to Guatemala City, June 24, 2011 in Mesa, Arizona.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 14 comments
lvchap
Oct 18, 2011 10:57 PM CDT
Sweet! Obama finally did something ok, not great, but ok.  I won't vote for him again, but the only person who seems to have his head out his ass is Cain. I kind of like where he is coming from.
Barack_Must_Go
Oct 18, 2011 7:29 PM CDT
Ain't that a kick in the head ....... The one thing Brobama gets right, ..... will, in the not too distant future, will be affecting him in adverse ways he never imagined.  Assume the position,.... B
DaveFrancis
Oct 18, 2011 6:10 PM CDT
NOTHING--can aid the American worker as a mandated E-Verify program, which will start reducing illegal immigration into this country. If unlawful aliens cannot get jobs, they will self-deport. Families with no bread winner or anybody unable to work will begin moving out the country. Extensive enforcement as in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia and other states who will soon follow; this is a prime example how policing enforcement works. Thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands are making a mass exodus and what is whispered as Sanctuary cities and states, will find they are the destination.. Federal E-Verify will accelerate even more illegal demoralized people packing up and heading out--going to who knows where? Removing upwards of 25 million illegal entries will take time, but with money they have previously saved, they will have funds across the borders or in far off lands to maintain a lucrative living. This is not a fallacy as somewhere in the region of $46 BILLION DOLLARS leave the country every year to foreign banks and families. If you look who is against the "THE LEGAL WORKFORCE ACT” and not just the Communist founded ACLU,  open-border zealots, but profit inspired organizations as corporate agriculture, and thousands of businesses who use cheap labor to pack their bank accounts.   Rep. Lamar Smith's "THE LEGAL WORKFORCE ACT” insures a better future for layers of low income Americans, all the way through middle management jobs. This is not anti-Hispanic, anti-Asian or anti-any race of people?  This is simple economics, which by removing foreign nationals who have settled here illegally, with millions of jobs replaced by Citizens and authorized residents. By Reading the non-oriented Liberal press, with irrefutable evidence that companies who lose their illegal alien workforce, are now serving lines of hungry Americans, lined  up for the very jobs vacated by foreign nationals.  This is very visual where (ICE) suddenly descends on businesses that have been caught in the act or where a Whistle Blower has informed the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement. Every legible American must conform to an I-9 audit form, supplied by the business where he seeks work. Under a more rigorous law as”THE LEGAL WORKFORCE ACT” (Bill H.R. 2885) it will help control who arrives in this sovereign nation.   After the Border is fully secure, and with the construction of the fence as indicated in the ‘2006 Secure Fence Act’ although not as according to the porous fence that installed currently.  But a two-layer fence with fast track U.S. border Patrol lanes in between and no restrictions to any land, in the vicinity Southern fencing as a priority. E-Verify as just one of unyielding mandated internal enforcement,  along with the Secure Communities and 287 G policing laws that can make a great difference to this country’s financial protection and national security. Once these laws are complete, then a similar agricultural policy for Farmers can be implemented as the "Bracero Program" that was dismantled. No matter who comes to America on either a working visa, for education or as a tourist must be tracked, as they make up a good part of over stays.   Thousands of heinous criminals have been deported, but even so an illegal alien is--illegal and subject to deportation. Never mind entering a foreign country including Mexico or any South of the border, you would end up in an unpleasant prison cell. Even industrialized nations in Europe have less tolerance for those who affronted the law. In America, even though President Obama has deported these criminal aliens, what makes you think they will not return? THAT’S WHY WE NEED TO PUNISH UNLAWFUL ENTRY AS A—FELONY? THIS MUST BE DESIGNATED AS A PRISON OFFENSE, INSTEAD OF A SLAP ON THE WRIST.     Contact Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH); House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA); House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) ; House Chairman of Ways & Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) and Other Members of the Ways & Means Committee to phone or fax for free at NumbersUSA.   YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO DO SOMETHING FOR AMERICAN WORKERS? IN FACT YOU MIGHT BE SAVING YOUR OWN JOB.   THINK WHAT WE AMERICANS COULD DO, WITH THE YEARLY EXPENDITURE OF $113 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, GOING TO SCHOOLS, HEALTH CARE, JAILS AND WELFARE FOR PEOPLE OF FOREIGN STATUS.   If you want to free fax, go to NumbersUSA or please call Washington at 202-224-3121 and ask for your U.S. Senator or Representative's office to urge action on mandatory E-Verify.   One Old Vet saying, “Stand next to me and you’ll never stand alone.”   Remember—Don’t Steal. The Government doesn’t like competition.
 

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