Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the
Klamath County Jail
Klamath Falls, Oregon
Detainees Deported or Released Number last 12 months 156 Out of total detained 300 Percent change: from previous 12 months 17 % from FY 2005 - from FY 2000 206 % Facility ranking on detainees top 48 %
Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facilityDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 156 detainees housed at the Klamath County Jail 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. The use of this facility for the temporary housing of federal immigration detainees was arranged through an intergovernmental service agreement (IGSA) under which payments by ICE to another governmental agency are made for housing federal detainees. Additional information about the arrangement, including whether a private company may operate the facility for the government, was not available at the time this report was posted.
Those individuals who departed from this facility because they were leaving ICE detention made up 52 percent of the 300 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 48 percent remained in ICE detention but were transferred from the Klamath County Jail 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 Klamath County Jail 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 Klamath County Jail last year ranked in the top 48 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that 48 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of exits, while 52 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 lower percentage of detainees (0 percent) left the country from the Klamath County Jail 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 Klamath County Jail numbers were up by 17 percent. During the April 2006-March 2007 period the facility processed 133 "exits" as compared with 156 last year. Exits last year were however up by 206 percent as compared with the number of exits (51) during FY 2000.
Longer term exit trends. Greater detail on these long-term trends for those leaving ICE detention from the Klamath County Jail 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.
Exit trends are also summarized by fiscal year in Table 2. Year-by-year figures for the Klamath County Jail 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 Klamath County Jail was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for all these detainees, the Klamath County Jail was the first place they were sent when they were detained by ICE.
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 Klamath County Jail on average had stayed at somewhat fewer (1.0) ICE facilities.
Reason Left ICE Facility Profile U.S Profile Number Percent Percent Withdrawal 155 99 % 1 % Proceedings Terminated 1 1 % 2 % Bonded out 0 . 8 % Deported/Removed 0 . 72 % Died 0 . 0 % Escaped 0 . 0 % Orders of Recognizance or Supervision 0 . 5 % Paroled 0 . 0 % U.S. Marshal or Other Agency 0 . 3 % Voluntary departure 0 . 10 % Total 156 100 % 100 %
Table 3: Reasons individuals left ICE detention during the last 12 months
Withdraw entry request. The most common reason a person left ICE detention from this facility was that they were allowed to "withdraw" their request to enter the United States. If a person withdraws their request, this effectively means they must leave the country. A total of 155 individuals (99 percent) fell into this category. Unlike deportation where the person is legally barred for a period of years and sometimes permanently from coming back to the United States, a person who withdraws their request is not for that reason barred from re-entry into this country.
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 one individual was released from detention by the Klamath County Jail because a determination was made that there were no grounds to deport the individual and thus ICE had to release him or her from custody.
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 Klamath County Jail 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.
As shown in Table 3, no one was recorded as leaving the Klamath County Jail during the past 12 months for the following reasons: Bonded out, Deported/Removed, Orders of Recognizance or Supervision, Paroled, U.S. Marshal or other agency and Voluntary departure. See "Reasons for Leaving ICE Detention" for a description of these categories.
Comparing Release Reasons Against The National Picture
In many respects release reasons for the Klamath County Jail departed from the national picture. No one left because they were deported from this facility, while for the U.S. as a whole 72 percent left for this reason. No one left as a voluntary departure from this facility, while this was true for 10 percent of all individuals nationally.
In addition, differences were seen for individuals who withdrew their request for entry (99 versus 1 percent), individuals released on bond (none versus 8 percent), and detainees released on orders of recognizance or supervision (none versus 5 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 Klamath County Jail had a much larger proportion of detainees from Mexico - 96 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 156 0 0.0 % 1 Mexico 150 0 0.0 % 2 El Salvador 3 0 0.0 % 3 Guatemala 2 0 0.0 % 4 Honduras 1 0 0.0 %
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 Klamath County Jail last year were: El Salvador (2%), Guatemala (1%) and Honduras (1%). 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%).
