Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the San Diego District Staging Facility

Detainees Deported or Released
Number last 12 months	7,942
Out of total detained	9,932

Percent change:
from previous 12 months	84 %
from FY 2005	135 %
from FY 2000	38 %

Facility ranking on detainees	top 4 %

Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facility

During the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 7,942 detainees housed at the San Diego District Staging Facility 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 is a special ICE holding area or staging location that under current ICE detention standards is allowed to temporarily house aliens for up to 12 or 16 hours. These types of units generally have no sleeping quarters or shower facilities.

Those individuals who departed from this facility because they were leaving ICE detention made up 80 percent of the 9,932 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 20 percent remained in ICE detention but were transferred from the San Diego District Staging Facility 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 San Diego District Staging Facility 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 San Diego District Staging Facility last year ranked in the top 4 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that 4 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of exits, while 96 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 (77 percent) left the country from the San Diego District Staging Facility 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 San Diego District Staging Facility numbers were sharply up by 84 percent. During the April 2006-March 2007 period the facility processed 4,321 "exits" as compared with 7,942 last year. As detailed in Table 1, numbers last year were also up 135 percent as compared with the number of those leaving ICE detention (3,373) during FY 2005. Exits last year were also up by 38 percent as compared with the number of exits (5,771) during FY 2000.

Longer term exit trends. Greater detail on these long-term trends for those leaving ICE detention from the San Diego District Staging Facility 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
Fiscal Year	Total	Exits	Percent
1999	10,343	6,336	61 %
2000	7,739	5,771	75 %
2001	7,621	5,561	73 %
2002	5,230	4,346	83 %
2003	7,577	6,599	87 %
2004	5,566	4,870	87 %
2005	3,804	3,373	89 %
2006	2,700	2,508	93 %
2007	7,199	7,013	97 %
2008 (est)	12,672	8,308	66 %

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 San Diego District Staging Facility 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 San Diego District Staging Facility was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for the vast majority (82 percent) of these detainees, the San Diego District Staging Facility was the first place they were sent when they were detained by ICE. The remaining 18 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 84 percent arrived at the San Diego District Staging Facility 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 29 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 San Diego District Staging Facility on average had stayed at somewhat fewer (1.2) ICE facilities.

Reason Left ICE	Facility Profile		U.S Profile
Reason Left ICE	Number	Percent	Percent
Deported/Removed	4,360	55 %	72 %
Voluntary departure	1,738	22 %	10 %
U.S. Marshal or Other Agency	852	11 %	3 %
Proceedings Terminated	372	5 %	2 %
Bonded out	298	4 %	8 %
Orders of Recognizance or Supervision	289	4 %	5 %
Paroled	29	0 %	0 %
Withdrawal	4	0 %	1 %
Died	0	.	0 %
Escaped	0	.	0 %
Total	7,942	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 San Diego District Staging Facility was that they were deported. A total of 4,360 individuals (55 percent) were deported or removed from the San Diego District Staging Facility 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.)

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 1,738 detainees (22 percent) left the San Diego District Staging Facility last year as voluntary departures.

Transferred to criminal custody. A total of 852 individuals (11 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.

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 372 individuals, or 5 percent were released from detention by the San Diego District Staging Facility because a determination was made that there were no grounds to deport the individuals and thus ICE had to release them from custody.

Bonded out. A group of individuals (298 or 4 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.

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 289 (4 percent) who left the San Diego District Staging Facility detention for these reasons: 140 with orders of recognizance, and 149 with orders of supervision.

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 San Diego District Staging Facility 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 San Diego District Staging Facility departed from the national picture. It was the case that a lower proportion left because they were deported from this facility (55 percent) than was true for the U.S. as a whole (72 percent). A higher proportion (22 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 (11 versus 3 percent), and individuals released on bond (4 versus 8 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 San Diego District Staging Facility had a much larger proportion of detainees from Mexico - 93 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
Nationalities Ranked in Top 10		Total	Deported/ Voluntary Departure	Percent
-	ALL	7,942	6,098	76.7 %
1	Mexico	7,349	5,990	81.5 %
2	Guatemala	75	11	14.6 %
3	Vietnam	64	0	0.0 %
4	El Salvador	51	2	3.9 %
5	Iraq	43	5	11.6 %
6	Honduras	34	14	41.1 %
7	Cuba	33	0	0.0 %
8	Laos	32	0	0.0 %
9	Armenia	21	3	14.2 %
10	Somalia	18	1	5.5 %

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 San Diego District Staging Facility last year were: Guatemala (1%), Vietnam (1%), El Salvador (1%) and Iraq (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%).

For the frequency for each of the other nationalities within the top 10 among those leaving ICE detention from the San Diego District Staging Facility 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 82 percent. As mentioned above, this compares with 77 percent for all detainees.

With the highest rate of 82 percent were detainees from Mexico where 7,349 individuals were deported or took voluntary departure. More than one country was tied with the lowest rate, where detainees were deported or took voluntary departure.