Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the
El Centro Service Processing Center
El Centro, California
Detainees Deported or Released Number last 12 months 2,659 Out of total detained 3,556 Percent change: from previous 12 months -28 % from FY 2005 -49 % from FY 2000 -40 % Facility ranking on detainees top 8 %
Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facilityDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 2,659 detainees housed at the El Centro Service Processing Center left that facility because they were deported, were released under supervision while their cases were being decided, or left ICE detention for one of a variety of other reasons. This facility is an ICE Service Processing Center (SPC). While the facility is government owned, it is operated by the Native American Corporation-Technical Services Incorporated that was in the business of providing detention services for housing federal detainees.
Those individuals who departed from this facility because they were leaving ICE detention made up 75 percent of the 3,556 detainees housed at this facility during the last 12 months. This report focuses on the reasons these individuals left ICE detention. Sometimes this report speaks of these individuals as those "exiting" ICE detention, or simply as "exits." The other 25 percent remained in ICE detention but were transferred from the El Centro Service Processing Center to other facilities.
This report covers those who left ICE custody. It excludes individuals transferred to other ICE facilities. For more information on this facility, including individuals that were transferred, see additional TRAC reports in this series.
This report series is based upon analyses conducted by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University of 3.4 million government records tracking each individual who passed through an ICE detention facility during the past decade. The most recent 12 month period for which comprehensive data are available is for April 2007 through March 2008. See About the Data.
How This Facility Ranks Nationally
Rankings on the number leaving ICE detention. The El Centro Service Processing Center was one of 1,528 facilities that were used to house immigration detainees during the last decade, and one of 654 facilities nationwide that housed ICE detainees during the most recent 12 month period. Of these 654, there were 324 facilities that had at least 10 individuals who were deported or released. Excluding those facilities with fewer than 10 exits, the El Centro Service Processing Center last year ranked in the top 8 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that 8 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of exits, while 92 percent had a smaller number. See Table 1.
Deportations. Nationally, the most common reason that a detainee left ICE detention was that they were deported from the United States. During the most recent 12 month period for which comprehensive data are available, nationwide 81 percent of those leaving ICE detention were deported or "voluntarily" departed. By way of comparison, a higher percentage of detainees (84 percent) left the country from the El Centro Service Processing Center because they were formally deported, or left under the so-called "voluntary departure" procedure.
Trends in the Number of Detainees Deported or Released
Trends in the number leaving ICE detention. When deportations and other releases during the April 2007-March 2008 period were compared with those in the previous 12 months, the El Centro Service Processing Center numbers were down by 28 percent. During the April 2006-March 2007 period the facility processed 3,688 "exits" as compared with 2,659 last year. As detailed in Table 1, numbers last year were also down 49 percent as compared with the number of those leaving ICE detention (5,192) during FY 2005. Exits last year were also down by 40 percent as compared with the number of exits (4,450) during FY 2000.
Longer term exit trends. Greater detail on these long-term trends for those leaving ICE detention from the El Centro Service Processing Center are displayed in Figure 1. Here the month-by-month number of exits are graphed against the backdrop of the total detainees leaving the custody of this facility. Exits are displayed with darker shading while those transferred appear with lighter shading. As is readily apparent, considerable variation has occurred over time in both the overall numbers of detainees as well as the volume leaving ICE detention during this period.
Fiscal Year ICE Detainees Total Exits Percent 1999 6,497 4,493 69 % 2000 6,788 4,450 66 % 2001 7,043 5,195 74 % 2002 6,447 5,391 84 % 2003 6,809 5,574 82 % 2004 7,436 5,912 80 % 2005 6,744 5,192 77 % 2006 5,082 3,772 74 % 2007 4,706 3,303 70 % 2008 (est) 3,672 2,876 78 %
Table 2: Number of detainees leaving
this facility over the last decade
Exit trends are also summarized by fiscal year in Table 2. Year-by-year figures for the El Centro Service Processing Center are given for the total number of detainees as compared with those leaving ICE detention from the facility. The percent of detainees that left ICE detention is also given. (As mentioned above, the remaining detainees were transferred to another ICE detention facility.) Because data for all twelve months of the most recent fiscal year are not yet available, the FY 2008 numbers (October 2007 through September 2008) are estimated based upon reporting for the first six months.
Were Detained Individuals from the Local Area?
Information on the place of arrest was not included in the available data ICE released. However, we can examine whether the El Centro Service Processing Center was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for the majority (58 percent) of these detainees, the El Centro Service Processing Center was the first place they were sent when they were detained by ICE. The remaining 42 percent had been transferred in from another ICE detention facility.
We can also look at how quickly they arrived at this facility after they were first detained. A total of 60 percent arrived at the El Centro Service Processing Center at some point during the very first day they were detained by ICE. There was considerable variability among detainees in the number of detention facilities they had been held in before they were finally deported or released from this facility. The number of facilities ranged as high as 15 separate locations for some detainees. These figures again are based on an analysis of the most recent 12 months for which data are available.
For the United States as a whole, last year the typical detainee stayed in two different ICE detention facilities before being deported or released - half stayed in 2 or fewer facilities, and half stayed in 2 or more. The average number of ICE facilities detainees moved through was 1.9. Detainees at the El Centro Service Processing Center on average had stayed at somewhat fewer (1.6) ICE facilities.
Reason Left ICE Facility Profile U.S Profile Number Percent Percent Deported/Removed 2,080 78 % 72 % Bonded out 190 7 % 8 % Voluntary departure 146 5 % 10 % Proceedings Terminated 137 5 % 2 % Orders of Recognizance or Supervision 74 3 % 5 % U.S. Marshal or Other Agency 22 1 % 3 % Withdrawal 9 0 % 1 % Paroled 1 0 % 0 % Died 0 . 0 % Escaped 0 . 0 % Total 2,659 100 % 100 %
Table 3: Reasons individuals left ICE detention during the last 12 months
Why Did Detainees Leave ICE Detention?
ICE records one of twenty-three reasons a detainee left ICE detention. As shown in Table 3, these reasons fall into ten general categories -- from leaving because one is deported or removed, to leaving because one escaped or the individual died while in custody.
Deportation. As mentioned earlier, the most common reason detainees left the El Centro Service Processing Center was that they were deported. A total of 2,080 individuals (78 percent) were deported or removed from the El Centro Service Processing Center during the most recent 12 month period for which data are available. (ICE data did not distinguish between deportations and removals, and the terms are used interchangeably in this report.)
Bonded out. A group of individuals (190 or 7 percent) were also "bonded out." This generally covers situations where the individual posts a bond and is released while awaiting a decision on their deportation (removal) case. The amount of the bond is set by ICE, or by an Immigration Judge. Many individuals are not eligible to be released because their continued detention is considered mandatory under provisions in the immigration laws.
Voluntary departure. Under some circumstances, detainees are allowed to take "voluntary departure." As with deportation, under voluntary departure a person must leave the country. However, unlike formal deportation where the individual is barred by law from reentering this country permanently or for a period of years, under voluntary departure the individual is not legally barred from reentry. An additional 146 detainees (5 percent) left the El Centro Service Processing Center last year as voluntary departures.
No legitimate grounds to deport. Sometimes individuals left ICE detention because they "won" their case. Typically this occurs when an Immigration Judge orders the deportation proceedings ICE has filed against them "terminated" (dismissed) and the judge's order after any appeals becomes final. Analysis of the latest 12 months of data show that a total of 137 individuals, or 5 percent were released from detention by the El Centro Service Processing Center because a determination was made that there were no grounds to deport the individuals and thus ICE had to release them from custody.
Orders. Orders are additional mechanisms that are sometimes used to release a person while their case is pending, or awaiting removal. Under an "order of recognizance" an individual is released with reporting conditions while in deportation proceedings and awaiting a final decision. A second type of order ("order of supervision") releases an individual after a final order of removal. Here an individual is released because ICE has not met the time limits the law imposes for deporting the individual. There were 74 (3 percent) who left the El Centro Service Processing Center detention for these reasons: 18 with orders of recognizance, and 56 with orders of supervision.
Transferred to criminal custody. A total of 22 individuals (1 percent) left this facility last year because they were turned over to U.S. Marshals or to some other government agency. This typically occurs because there is an outstanding criminal case against the individual, or the individual is needed as a material witness in a criminal case.
Escape and death. Nationally, there were 92 individuals who escaped ICE detention during the latest 12 month period for which data are available, and 8 individuals were recorded as having died in detention. No one was recorded by the El Centro Service Processing Center as either escaping or dying last year. Over the past decade, there was also no record of anyone who died or escaped from this facility.
Comparing Release Reasons Against The National Picture
In many respects release reasons for the El Centro Service Processing Center departed from the national picture. It was the case that a higher proportion left because they were deported from this facility (78 percent) than was true for the U.S. as a whole (72 percent). A lower proportion (5 percent) left this facility as voluntary departures than was true nationally (10 percent).
The facility's percentages fell within 3 percentage points of the national figures for all other categories.
Nationalities
Which nationalities predominate? Last year in the United States, individuals from Mexico comprised the largest number of those leaving ICE detention. Some 53.6 percent of all detainees recorded Mexico as their country of origin. The El Centro Service Processing Center had a similar proportion of detainees from Mexico - 57 percent among their exits. Detainees from Mexico were also the largest single nationality group among those leaving detention from the facility.
Nationalities Ranked in Top 10 Left ICE Detention Total Deported/
Voluntary
DeparturePercent - ALL 2,659 2,226 83.7 % 1 Mexico 1,518 1,329 87.5 % 2 Guatemala 428 402 93.9 % 3 Honduras 179 177 98.8 % 4 El Salvador 89 68 76.4 % 5 Iraq 58 0 0.0 % 6 Nicaragua 34 32 94.1 % 7 China 27 12 44.4 % 8 Ecuador 25 24 96.0 % 9 Peru 22 19 86.3 % 10 Philippines 20 16 80.0 %
Table 4: Numbers leaving ICE detention by nationality
during the last 12 months
In descending order, the other top nationalities after Mexico that made up those leaving ICE detention from the El Centro Service Processing Center last year were: Guatemala (16%), Honduras (7%), El Salvador (3%) and Iraq (2%). This compared to the United States as a whole where the other top five nationalities after Mexico were Honduras (11.0%), Guatemala (10.0%), El Salvador (8.4%) and Dominican Republic (1.6%).
For the frequency for each of the other nationalities within the top 10 among those leaving ICE detention from the El Centro Service Processing Center last year see Table 4.
Deportations and voluntary departures by nationality. Within the nationalities that made up those listed in Table 4 with more than one individual, the proportion deported or voluntarily departing varied from 0 percent to 99 percent. As mentioned above, this compares with 84 percent for all detainees.
With the highest rate of 99 percent were detainees from Honduras where 179 individuals were deported or took voluntary departure. At the other end of the range were detainees from Iraq, where none ended up deported or were allowed voluntary departure.
