rssMost Immigrants In Detention Centers Have No Criminal Record
Monday, March 16, 2009 at 6:36 pm
- 7 Comments
An analysis by The Associated Press reveals that the United States has vastly expanded its immigrant detention system over the last ten years, but most of the immigrants being held have no criminal record and many are unlikely to leave the country anytime soon.
Data from the official Immigration and Customs Enforcement database, obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, showed that exactly 32,000 immigrants were being detained in immigration detention facilities on the evening of Jan. 25. Of these, almost 19,000 had no criminal conviction — not even for illegal entry or low-level crimes like loitering or trespassing. More than 400 of these immigrants had been imprisoned for more than a year. A dozen had been held for three years or more. And one man from China, despite no criminal record whatsoever, had been locked up for more than five years.
Although the law requires that ICE either deport or release immigrants within six months of their case being decided, The Associated Press reports that ICE routinely misses this Supreme Court-mandated deadline.
The report appears to confirm what we’ve written before — that some local law enforcement agencies are using their broad powers under a federal program to sweep up undocumented immigrants and imprison them, even if they’ve committed no crimes.
7 Comments
Comment posted April 15, 2009 @ 2:08 am
If we take a look and revisit our laws, violation of immigration status is a CIVIL offense, NOT a crime, thus undocumented immigrants ARE NOT CRIMINALS. Civil laws are created to right a wrong, if found guilty, they are fined and let go to better themselves. This makes a society “CIVILIZED”.
Following this rule of law, undocumented immigrants should be penalized through compensation or be “fined” and then provided a chance to right a wrong by assimilating themselves in our culture and becoming law-abiding productive citizens to contribute in our ailing economy.
Jailing them without a criminal offense is not only inhumane but would make them unproductive and would cost us hundreds of millions of tax dollars to keep them there. Maybe we can show the world how Americans value and respect human dignities and rights even if we have not been a signatory to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights created since 1948.
Comment posted April 15, 2009 @ 9:08 am
If we take a look and revisit our laws, violation of immigration status is a CIVIL offense, NOT a crime, thus undocumented immigrants ARE NOT CRIMINALS. Civil laws are created to right a wrong, if found guilty, they are fined and let go to better themselves. This makes a society “CIVILIZED”.
Following this rule of law, undocumented immigrants should be penalized through compensation or be “fined” and then provided a chance to right a wrong by assimilating themselves in our culture and becoming law-abiding productive citizens to contribute in our ailing economy.
Jailing them without a criminal offense is not only inhumane but would make them unproductive and would cost us hundreds of millions of tax dollars to keep them there. Maybe we can show the world how Americans value and respect human dignities and rights even if we have not been a signatory to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights created since 1948.
Pingback posted August 13, 2009 @ 12:02 pm
[...] more than 32,000 detainees, which is nearly five times the number of detainees in 1994. Nearly 19,000 of these detainees have no criminal records, over half do not have attorneys and many have been detained for more than a year, despite the US [...]
Pingback posted August 13, 2009 @ 3:27 pm
[...] more than 32,000 detainees, which is nearly five times the number of detainees in 1994. Nearly 19,000 of these detainees have no criminal records, over half do not have attorneys and many have been detained for more than a year, despite the US [...]
Pingback posted August 13, 2009 @ 8:59 pm
[...] more than 32,000 detainees, which is nearly five times the number of detainees in 1994. Nearly 19,000 of these detainees have no criminal records, over half do not have attorneys and many have been detained for more than a year, despite the US [...]
Pingback posted August 14, 2009 @ 4:19 am
[...] more than 32,000 detainees, which is nearly five times the number of detainees in 1994. Nearly 19,000 of these detainees have no criminal records, over half do not have attorneys and many have been detained for more than a year, despite the US [...]
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