Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the
Southwest Key Conroe
Conroe, Texas
Detainees Deported or Released Number last 12 months 265 Out of total detained 300 Percent change: from previous 12 months 27 % from FY 2005 2550 % from FY 2000 - Facility ranking on detainees top 39 %
Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facilityDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 265 detainees housed at the Southwest Key Conroe 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 facility for housing juveniles. Use of this facility was handled by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Division of Unaccompanied Children's Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Those individuals who departed from this facility because they were leaving ICE detention made up 88 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 12 percent remained in ICE detention but were transferred from the Southwest Key Conroe 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 Southwest Key Conroe 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 Southwest Key Conroe last year ranked in the top 39 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that 39 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of exits, while 61 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 (41 percent) left the country from the Southwest Key Conroe 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 Southwest Key Conroe numbers were up by 27 percent. During the April 2006-March 2007 period the facility processed 208 "exits" as compared with 265 last year. As detailed in Table 1, numbers last year were also up greatly as compared with the number of those leaving ICE detention (10) during FY 2005.
Longer term exit trends. Greater detail on these long-term trends for those leaving ICE detention from the Southwest Key Conroe 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 Southwest Key Conroe 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 Southwest Key Conroe 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 Southwest Key Conroe 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 83 percent arrived at the Southwest Key Conroe 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 3 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 Southwest Key Conroe on average had stayed at somewhat fewer (1.2) ICE facilities.
Reason Left ICE Facility Profile U.S Profile Number Percent Percent Orders of Recognizance or Supervision 145 55 % 5 % Deported/Removed 93 35 % 72 % Voluntary departure 15 6 % 10 % Escaped 12 5 % 0 % Bonded out 0 . 8 % Died 0 . 0 % Paroled 0 . 0 % Proceedings Terminated 0 . 2 % U.S. Marshal or Other Agency 0 . 3 % Withdrawal 0 . 1 % Total 265 100 % 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, while nationally the most common reason that a detainee left ICE detention was that they were deported from this country, this was not the top reason at this facility. At the Southwest Key Conroe only 93 individuals (35 percent) were deported or removed 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.)
Orders. The issuance of an order to release the detainee was the most common reason why individuals were recorded as leaving ICE detention from this facility. 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 145 (55 percent) who left the Southwest Key Conroe detention for these reasons: 145 with orders of recognizance, and none with an order of supervision.
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 15 detainees (6 percent) left the Southwest Key Conroe last year as voluntary departures.
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 as dying last year at the Southwest Key Conroe, but there were 12 escapes. Over the past decade, 27 escapes were recorded from this facility, but no deaths.
As shown in Table 3, no one was recorded as leaving the Southwest Key Conroe during the past 12 months for the following reasons: Bonded out, Paroled, Proceedings Terminated, U.S. Marshal or other agency 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 Southwest Key Conroe departed from the national picture. It was the case that a lower proportion left because they were deported from this facility (35 percent) than was true for the U.S. as a whole (72 percent). A slightly lower proportion (6 percent) left this facility as voluntary departures than was true nationally (10 percent).
In addition, differences were seen for detainees released on orders of recognizance or supervision (55 versus 5 percent), those who escaped (5 versus 0 percent), and individuals released on bond (none 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 Southwest Key Conroe had a much smaller proportion of detainees from Mexico - 8 percent among their exits. Detainees from Mexico were not 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 265 108 40.7 % 1 Honduras 120 53 44.1 % 2 Guatemala 71 36 50.7 % 3 El Salvador 42 5 11.9 % 4 Mexico 22 14 63.6 % 5 Ecuador 4 0 0.0 % 6 Brazil 3 0 0.0 % 7 Dominican Republic 2 0 0.0 % 8 Nicaragua 1 0 0.0 %
Table 4: Numbers leaving ICE detention by nationality
during the last 12 months
In descending order, the top nationalities that made up those leaving ICE detention from the Southwest Key Conroe last year were: Honduras (45%) , Guatemala (27%), El Salvador (16%), Mexico (8%) and Ecuador (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 among those leaving ICE detention from the Southwest Key Conroe 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 64 percent. As mentioned above, this compares with 41 percent for all detainees.
With the highest rate of 64 percent were detainees from Mexico where 22 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.
