Who is Actually Getting Deported by ICE?

One of the topics that was discussed in the last Presidential debate was the deportation of undocumented immigrants to the United States. The nominee for the Republican party, Donald Trump, brought up that President Obama has deported “millions” of immigrants who came to the United States without the proper documents.

The Marshall Project has undertaken a study to examine the data from the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to discover the nature of the deportations. The result of the data analysis by the Marshall Project details more than 300,000 deportations since President Obama’s speech in 2014, when he declared that immigration officials would focus their removal efforts on ” Felons not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mom who is working hard to provide for her kids.” The data shows that about 60% of the removals were of immigrants whose only crimes were immigration-related. Approximately 21% were convicted of non-violent crimes unrelated to immigration, and another 20% had some violent convictions such as assault, DUI and weapons offenses.

The Marshall Project received the data from ICE through a Freedom of Information Act request, which covered the time period between November 2014 and April 2016. The Marshall Project report and an investigation conducted by the New York Times reveals that most of the people who have been deported during the Obama presidency had committed only minor infractions or had no criminal record at all, and the latest data released by the Marshall project reveals that while the number of actual deportations has dropped since 2014, the proportion of serious criminals is about the same. The FOIA-requested documents reveal that the actual priorities laid out in the Department of Homeland Security’s memo were to remove anyone who had entered the country illegally since 2014 – whether they had committed additional crimes or not.

The Marshall Project report also outlines the impact that immigration enforcement has on legal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes. There have been more than 3,000 deportations of legal permanent residents since November 2014, and about half of those were non-violent convictions, including more than 1,000 who were deported for drug convictions.

The truth is, most immigrants who face removal have been charged with the crime of illegal entry or reentry. Those charged or convicted with a more serious offense, like a drug crime, are almost certain to be deported. If you are one of those people, you want a Knoxville immigration attorney you can trust on your side.

If you are worried about removal proceedings, or have been charged with a criminal offense, it’s time to call LaFevor & Slaughter for help. We can offer you guidance about your options and help you plan for the future. Please call Knoxville immigration lawyer Patrick Slaughter at 865.637.6258, or fill out our contact form, to schedule a consultation about your case.