Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the
Laramie County Jail
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Detainees Deported or Released Number last 12 months 10 Out of total detained 69 Percent change: from previous 12 months 25 % from FY 2005 400 % from FY 2000 150 % Facility ranking on detainees top 99 %
Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facilityDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 10 detainees housed at the Laramie 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 14 percent of the 69 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 86 percent remained in ICE detention but were transferred from the Laramie 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 Laramie 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 Laramie County Jail last year ranked in the top 99 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that this facility was at the very bottom of those facilities that were ranked since it only had 10 exits.
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 (40 percent) left the country from the Laramie 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 Laramie County Jail numbers were up by 25 percent. During the April 2006-March 2007 period the facility processed 8 "exits" as compared with 10 last year. As detailed in Table 1, numbers last year were also up greatly as compared with the number of those leaving ICE detention (2) during FY 2005. Exits last year were also up by 150 percent as compared with the number of exits (4) during FY 2000.
Longer term exit trends. Greater detail on these long-term trends for those leaving ICE detention from the Laramie 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 Laramie 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 Laramie County Jail was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for all these detainees, the Laramie 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 Laramie County Jail on average had stayed at somewhat fewer (1.0) ICE facilities.
Reason Left ICE Facility Profile U.S Profile Number Percent Percent U.S. Marshal or Other Agency 5 50 % 3 % Voluntary departure 4 40 % 10 % Proceedings Terminated 1 10 % 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 % Withdrawal 0 . 1 % Total 10 100 % 100 %
Table 3: Reasons individuals left ICE detention during the last 12 months
Transferred to criminal custody. The most common reason a person left ICE detention from this facility was that they were transferred to criminal custody. A total of 5 individuals (50 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.
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 4 detainees (40 percent) left the Laramie County Jail 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 one individual was released from detention by the Laramie 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 Laramie 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 Laramie County Jail during the past 12 months for the following reasons: Bonded out, Deported/Removed, Orders of Recognizance or Supervision, Paroled and Withdrawal. 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 Laramie 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. A higher proportion (40 percent) left this facility as voluntary departures than was true nationally (10 percent).
In addition, differences were seen for those released to the U.S. Marshal or other agency (50 versus 3 percent), persons whose proceedings were terminated (10 versus 2 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 Laramie County Jail had all detainees from Mexico among their exits. Detainees from Mexico were the only nationality group leaving detention from this facility.
