Transfers of ICE Detainees from the
Pottawattamie County Jail
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Detainees Transferred Number last 12 months 48 Out of total detained 123 Percent change: from previous 12 months -84 % from FY 2005 -87 % from FY 2000 300 % Facility ranking on transfers top 72 %
Table 1: TransfersDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 48 detainees were transferred by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from the Pottawattamie County Jail where they had been temporarily housed to other facilities. The average stay for these individuals before their transfer was 34 days. 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.
Transfers made up 39 percent of the 123 detainees who in one way or another left this facility during the last 12 months. This report focuses just on these transfers. The remaining 61 percent of individuals who departed from the Pottawattamie County Jail last year actually left ICE detention. These individuals were deported from the country, released under supervision while their cases was being decided, or left ICE detention for a variety of other reasons. For more information on this facility please 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
Detainee transfer rankings. The Pottawattamie 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 403 facilities that had at least 10 ICE detainee transfers last year. Excluding those facilities with fewer than 10 transfers, the Pottawattamie County Jail last year ranked in the top 72 percent nationwide in the number of individuals it transferred to other ICE facilities. This means that 72 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of transfers, while 28 percent had a smaller number. See Table 1.
Average length of stay before transfer. Once detainees arrived at the Pottawattamie County Jail their average length of stay before being transferred on to another ICE facility was 34 days last year. Ranking facilities from longest to shortest detention stays for their transfer population, this average of 34 days placed Pottawattamie County Jail in the top 16 percent of all facilities nationwide. That is, for detainees who are transferred, 16 percent of ICE detention facilities have the same or longer average stays last year, while 84 percent of detention facilities had shorter average stays.
Trends in the Number of Detainees Transferred
Transfers last year. When the ICE detainee transfers during the April 2007-March 2008 period were compared with those in the previous 12 months, the Pottawattamie County Jail numbers were sharply down by 84 percent. During the previous April 2006-March 2007 period the facility processed 296 transfers as compared with 48 last year. As detailed in Table 1, transfers last year were also down by 87 percent as compared with the number of transfers (362) during FY 2005. Transfers last year were however up by 300 percent as compared with the number of transfers (12) during FY 2000.
Longer term transfer trends. Greater detail on these long-term trends in ICE transfers from the Pottawattamie County Jail are displayed in Figure 1. Here the month-by-month number of transfers are graphed against the backdrop of the total detainees leaving the custody of this facility. Transfers are displayed with darker shading while those deported or released 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 of transfers during this period.
Fiscal Year ICE Detainees Total Transfers Percent 1999 22 15 68 % 2000 84 12 14 % 2001 214 30 14 % 2002 359 104 29 % 2003 366 201 55 % 2004 600 415 69 % 2005 629 362 58 % 2006 598 266 44 % 2007 483 224 46 % 2008 (est) 82 12 15 %
Table 2: Detainee transfers from this facility over the last decade
Transfer trends for the last decade are summarized by fiscal year in Table 2. Year-by-year figures for the Pottawattamie County Jail are given for the total number of detainees as compared with the number transferred from the facility. The percent of detainees that end up being transferred from the facility is also given. (As mentioned above, the remaining detainees end up deported, released under supervision, or leave ICE detention for some other reason.) 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.
Origins and Destinations
Were these detainees arrested locally? Where did those that ended up being transferred from the Pottawattamie County Jail last year originate? Information on the place of arrest was not included in the available data ICE released. However, we can examine whether the Pottawattamie County Jail was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for the vast majority (81 percent) of these detainees, the Pottawattamie County Jail was the first place they were sent when they were detained by ICE. The remaining 19 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 83 percent arrived at the Pottawattamie County Jail at some point during the very first day they were detained by ICE. This percentage is also based on an analysis of the most recent 12 months for which data are available.
How soon did transfers occur? Nationally, the median number of days before an ICE detainee is transferred to another facility was 3 days last year. That means that half of all transfers occurred on or before the third day, while half had longer stays before they were transferred on to another ICE facility. Note that nationally the average stay at an ICE detention facility before an individual is transferred is substantially longer - 18 days. This is because while most detainees have relatively short stays before ICE transfers them elsewhere, sometimes stays are lengthy and these lengthy stays raise the average to above the median stay of 3 days.
For the Pottawattamie County Jail last year, the median stay before a detainee was transferred was 24 days. This is longer than the national figure. The average stay before transfers occurred was longer - 34 days - than the median stay. As noted above, this figure placed the facility in the top 16 percent among ICE detention facilities nationwide in the average number of days a detainee spent before he or she was transferred.
Where did those transferred get sent? ICE currently has great discretion about where in the United States transferred detainees are sent. For the period covered by these data, ICE divided the country into geographic regions or areas and assigned each to one of 56 document control offices or DCOs for the purpose of keeping track of detainees. Available data allow us to examine whether the transfer occurred within the same DCO or the transfer was to a different DCO. For the nation as a whole during the latest 12 months, about six out of ten transfers (59 percent) were within the same DCO, while the remaining four out of ten (41 percent) were to a different DCO.
Transfers Facility Profile U.S Overall
Profile (%)Number Percent Within region (DCO) 33 69% 59% Outside region (DCO) 15 31% 41% Total 48 100% 100%
Table 3: Transfer destinations during last 12 months
Figure 2 and accompanying Table 3 provide some comparative figures for how the Pottawattamie County Jail stacks up against this national pattern. Last year, 69 percent of the transfers from the Pottawattamie County Jail were to locations in the same region -- facilities under the control of same ICE docket control office. A substantial proportion (31 percent) of the transfers went to detention facilities in a different region (DCO).
Nationalities
Which nationalities predominate? Last year in the United States, individuals from Mexico comprised the largest number of those transferred by ICE. Some 37 percent of all transfers recorded Mexico as their country of origin. The Pottawattamie County Jail had a similar proportion of detainees from Mexico - 44 percent - among their transfers. Detainees from Mexico were also the largest single nationality group among the transfers at the facility.
Nationalities Ranked in Top 10 Transfers Total To Diff. DCO % Diff DCO - ALL 48 15 31.3 % 1 Mexico 21 0 0.0 % 2 Guatemala 15 11 73.3 % 3 El Salvador 6 3 50.0 % 4 Honduras 3 1 33.3 % 5 Cameroon 1 0 0.0 % Mali 1 0 0.0 % Nicaragua 1 0 0.0 %
Table 4: Transfers by nationality during the last 12 months
In descending order, the other top nationalities after Mexico that made up transfers from the Pottawattamie County Jail last year were: Guatemala (31%), El Salvador (13%), Honduras (6%), Cameroon (2%), Mali (2%) and Nicaragua (2%).
Out-of-region transfers by nationality. Within the nationalities that made up those listed in Table 4, the proportion transferred out of the region varied from 0 percent to 73 percent. As mentioned above, on average 31 percent of detainees transferred from the Pottawattamie County Jail were sent to detention locations outside the region.
For Guatemala with a total of 15 transfers, 73 percent of transfers were out-of-region transfers. More than one country was tied with the lowest out-of-region transfer rates (see Table 4).
