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Traffic Violations Have Highest Growth Rate for Secure Communities Removals

“Recently released ICE removal-by-removal records from Secure Communities — current through October 2017 — provide a portrait of deportations of immigrants from each state and county in the nation. While the new administration initially did successfully ramp up deportations nationally, the latest data show no further increase. The number deported under this program – including some who have no criminal record – appear to have stabilized, averaging around 6,200 per month. This level is lower than totals prevailing during the Secure Communities era of President Obama. The data also show that this administration’s expanded focus — on essentially anyone present in the United States without papers authorizing them to be here — has caused a shift in the types of offenses that deported immigrants have most commonly committed. None of the offenses with the largest rate of increase in Secure Communities removals involved serious felonies. The top ten with the largest growth rate all were generally misdemeanors or even petty offenses. Topping this top-ten list in terms of sheer numbers of resulting removals were minor traffic violations. This category which excluded driving under the influence of liquor jumped from 1,323 during calendar year 2016 to 2,364 deported during the 9 months after Trump assumed office – a rate of increase of 138 percent. Others on this top-ten list of convicted criminals included those convicted of public order crimes, disorderly conduct, liquor violations and prostitution. These newly released removal-by-removal ICE records were obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University as the result of extensive Freedom of Information efforts, including litigation.

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