Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the
Val Verde Detention Center
Del Rio, Texas
Detainees Deported or Released Number last 12 months 99 Out of total detained 109 Percent change: from previous 12 months 3200 % from FY 2005 - from FY 2000 - Facility ranking on detainees top 59 %
Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facilityDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 99 detainees housed at the Val Verde Detention Center 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. While the facility is government owned, it is operated by the The GEO Group, Inc. that was in the business of providing detention services for housing federal detainees.
Those individuals who departed from this facility because they were leaving ICE detention made up 91 percent of the 109 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 9 percent remained in ICE detention but were transferred from the Val Verde Detention Center 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 Val Verde Detention Center 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 Val Verde Detention Center last year ranked in the top 59 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that 59 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of exits, while 41 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 (100 percent) left the country from the Val Verde Detention Center 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 Val Verde Detention Center numbers were sharply up by 3,200 percent. During the April 2006-March 2007 period the facility processed 3 "exits" as compared with 99 last year.
Longer term exit trends. Greater detail on these long-term trends for those leaving ICE detention from the Val Verde Detention Center 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.
Exit trends are also summarized by fiscal year in Table 2. Year-by-year figures for the Val Verde Detention Center 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 Val Verde Detention Center was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for a few (1 percent) of these detainees, the Val Verde Detention Center was the first place they were sent when they were detained by ICE. The remaining 99 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 1 percent arrived at the Val Verde Detention Center 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 6 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 Val Verde Detention Center on average had stayed at somewhat more (2.8) ICE facilities.
Reason Left ICE Facility Profile U.S Profile Number Percent Percent Deported/Removed 98 99 % 72 % Voluntary departure 1 1 % 10 % Bonded out 0 . 8 % Died 0 . 0 % Escaped 0 . 0 % Orders of Recognizance or Supervision 0 . 5 % Paroled 0 . 0 % Proceedings Terminated 0 . 2 % U.S. Marshal or Other Agency 0 . 3 % Withdrawal 0 . 1 % Total 99 100 % 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 Val Verde Detention Center was that they were deported. A total of 98 individuals (99 percent) were deported or removed from the Val Verde Detention Center 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. One detainee left the Val Verde Detention Center 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 by the Val Verde Detention Center 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 Val Verde Detention Center during the past 12 months for the following reasons: Bonded out, Orders of Recognizance or Supervision, 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 Val Verde Detention Center departed from the national picture. It was the case that a higher proportion left because they were deported from this facility (99 percent) than was true for the U.S. as a whole (72 percent). A lower proportion (1 percent) left this facility as voluntary departures than was true nationally (10 percent).
In addition, differences were seen for 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 Val Verde Detention Center had a much smaller proportion of detainees from Mexico - 3 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 99 99 100.0 % 1 Honduras 96 96 100.0 % 2 Mexico 3 3 100.0 %
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 Val Verde Detention Center last year were: Honduras (97%) and Mexico (3%). 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%).
