Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the
Tucson Immigration Holding Room
Tucson, Arizona
Detainees Deported or Released Number last 12 months 5,131 Out of total detained 6,462 Percent change: from previous 12 months -66 % from FY 2005 -72 % from FY 2000 2 % Facility ranking on detainees top 5 %
Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facilityDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 5,131 detainees housed at the Tucson Immigration Holding Room 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 79 percent of the 6,462 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 21 percent remained in ICE detention but were transferred from the Tucson Immigration Holding Room 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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room 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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room last year ranked in the top 5 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that 5 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of exits, while 95 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 higher percentage of detainees (96 percent) left the country from the Tucson Immigration Holding Room 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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room numbers were sharply down by 66 percent. During the April 2006-March 2007 period the facility processed 14,921 "exits" as compared with 5,131 last year. As detailed in Table 1, numbers last year were also down 72 percent as compared with the number of those leaving ICE detention (18,064) during FY 2005. Exits last year were however up by 2 percent as compared with the number of exits (5,037) during FY 2000.
Longer term exit trends. Greater detail on these long-term trends for those leaving ICE detention from the Tucson Immigration Holding Room 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 Total Exits Percent 1999 3,864 3,823 99 % 2000 5,244 5,037 96 % 2001 6,401 6,192 97 % 2002 8,729 8,444 97 % 2003 14,134 13,669 97 % 2004 17,269 16,664 96 % 2005 19,328 18,064 93 % 2006 17,349 16,184 93 % 2007 12,172 11,339 93 % 2008 (est) 4,250 2,098 49 %
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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room 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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for the vast majority (93 percent) of these detainees, the Tucson Immigration Holding Room was the first place they were sent when they were detained by ICE. The remaining 7 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. Again, a total of 93 percent arrived at the Tucson Immigration Holding Room 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 4 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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room on average had stayed at somewhat fewer (1.1) ICE facilities.
Reason Left ICE Facility Profile U.S Profile Number Percent Percent Deported/Removed 4,729 92 % 72 % Voluntary departure 195 4 % 10 % U.S. Marshal or Other Agency 179 3 % 3 % Orders of Recognizance or Supervision 20 0 % 5 % Withdrawal 5 0 % 1 % Proceedings Terminated 3 0 % 2 % Bonded out 0 . 8 % Died 0 . 0 % Escaped 0 . 0 % Paroled 0 . 0 % Total 5,131 100 % 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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room was that they were deported. A total of 4,729 individuals (92 percent) were deported or removed from the Tucson Immigration Holding Room 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 195 detainees (4 percent) left the Tucson Immigration Holding Room last year as voluntary departures.
Transferred to criminal custody. A total of 179 individuals (3 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.
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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room as either escaping or dying last year. Over the past decade, 2 deaths were recorded from this facility, but no escapes.
As shown in Table 3, no one was recorded as leaving the Tucson Immigration Holding Room during the past 12 months for the following reasons: Bonded out and Paroled. 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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room departed from the national picture. It was the case that a higher proportion left because they were deported from this facility (92 percent) than was true for the U.S. as a whole (72 percent). A lower proportion (4 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 (0 versus 5 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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room had a much larger proportion of detainees from Mexico - 99 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 5,131 4,924 95.9 % 1 Mexico 5,100 4,909 96.2 % 2 El Salvador 11 3 27.2 % 3 Guatemala 10 8 80.0 % 4 Honduras 4 1 25.0 % 5 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1 0 0.0 % Colombia 1 1 100.0 % Cuba 1 0 0.0 % Dominican Republic 1 1 100.0 % Turkey 1 0 0.0 % Unknown 1 1 100.0 %
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 Tucson Immigration Holding Room last year were: El Salvador (0%), Guatemala (0%), Honduras (0%), Bosnia-Herzegovina (0%), Colombia (0%), Cuba (0%), Dominican Republic (0%), Turkey (0%) and Unknown (0%). 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%).
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 25 percent to 96 percent. As mentioned above, this compares with 96 percent for all detainees.
With the highest rate of 96 percent were detainees from Mexico where 5,100 individuals were deported or took voluntary departure. At the other end of the range were detainees from Honduras, where 25 percent ended up deported or were allowed voluntary departure.
