Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the
Baptist Child & Family Services
San Antonio, Texas
Detainees Deported or Released Number last 12 months 985 Out of total detained 1,039 Facility ranking on detainees top 16 %
Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facilityDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 985 detainees housed at the Baptist Child & Family Services 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 95 percent of the 1,039 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 others remained in ICE detention but were transferred from the Baptist Child & Family Services 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 1.7 million government records tracking each individual who passed through an ICE detention facility during fiscal year 2015. This most recent 12 month period for which comprehensive data are available covers October 2014 through September 2015. See About the Data.
How This Facility Ranks Nationally
Rankings on the number leaving ICE detention. The Baptist Child & Family Services was one of 637 facilities nationwide that housed ICE detainees during the most recent 12 month period. Of these 637, there were 358 that had at least 10 individuals who were deported or released. Excluding those facilities with fewer than 10 exits, the Baptist Child & Family Services last year ranked in the top 16 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that 16 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of exits, while 84 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 56.3 percent of those leaving ICE detention were deported or "voluntarily" departed. By way of comparison, a lower percentage of detainees (11 percent) left the country from the Baptist Child & Family Services because they were formally deported, or left under the so-called "voluntary departure" procedure.
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 Baptist Child & Family Services was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for the majority (74 percent) of these detainees, the Baptist Child & Family Services was the first place they were sent when they were detained by ICE. The remaining 26 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 87 percent arrived at the Baptist Child & Family Services 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 5 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 average number of ICE facilities detainees moved through was 1.8. Detainees at the Baptist Child & Family Services on average had stayed at somewhat fewer (1.3) ICE facilities.
Reason Left ICE Facility Profile U.S Profile Number Percent Percent Orders of Recognizance or Supervision 842 85.4 % 19.8 % Deported/Removed 103 10.4 % 55.3 % Proceedings Terminated 14 1.4 % 1.3 % Voluntary departure 8 0.8 % 0.9 % Release to ORR 6 0.6 % 0.1 % U.S. Marshal or Other Agency 6 0.6 % 4.5 % Escaped 3 0.3 % 0.0 % Bonded out 1 0.1 % 11.0 % Prosecutorial Discretion 1 0.1 % 1.0 % Withdrawal 1 0.1 % 0.2 % Alternative ATD custody 0 . 0.1 % Died 0 . 0.0 % Paroled 0 . 5.2 % Total 985 100.0 % 100.0 %
Table 3: Reasons individuals left ICE detention during the last 12 months
Why Did Detainees Leave ICE Detention?
ICE records one of 29 reasons a detainee left ICE detention. As shown in Table 3, these reasons fall into 13 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 Baptist Child & Family Services only 103 individuals (10 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 842 (85 percent) who left the Baptist Child & Family Services detention for these reasons: 842 with orders of recognizance, and none with an order of supervision.
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 14 individuals, or 1 percent were released from detention by the Baptist Child & Family Services because a determination was made that there were no grounds to deport the individuals and thus ICE had to release them from custody.
Voluntary departure. Under some circumstances, detainees are allowed to take "voluntary departures" or "voluntary returns." 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 and voluntary return the individual is not legally barred from reentry. An additional 8 detainees (1 percent) left the Baptist Child & Family Services last year as voluntary departures and voluntary returns.
Transferred to ORR custody. A total of 6 individuals (1 percent) left this facility last year because they were turned over to the care and custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Among ORR's responsibility is the supervision of unaccompanied children, including their placement whenever possible with qualified sponsors or family members who ORR determines are capable of providing for the child's physical and mental well-being.
Transferred to criminal custody. A total of 6 individuals (1 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 65 individuals who escaped ICE detention during the latest 12 month period for which data are available, and 6 individuals were recorded as having died in detention. No one was recorded as dying last year at the Baptist Child & Family Services, but there were 3 escapes.
As shown in Table 3, no one was recorded as leaving the Baptist Child & Family Services during the past 12 months for the following reasons: Alternative ATD custody 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 Baptist Child & Family Services departed from the national picture. It was the case that a lower proportion left because they were deported from this facility (10 percent) than was true for the U.S. as a whole (55 percent).
In addition, differences were seen for detainees released on orders of recognizance or supervision (85 versus 20 percent), those released to the U.S. Marshal or other agency (1 versus 5 percent), individuals released on bond (0 versus 11 percent), and for those paroled (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 43.4 percent of all detainees recorded Mexico as their country of origin. The Baptist Child & Family Services had a much smaller proportion of detainees from Mexico - 16 percent among their exits. Detainees from Mexico were not the largest single nationality group among those leaving detention from the facility.
In descending order, the top nationalities that made up those leaving ICE detention from the Baptist Child & Family Services last year were: Guatemala (28%) , El Salvador (27%), Honduras (26%), Mexico (16%) and Ecuador (1%).
This compared to the United States as a whole where the other top five nationalities after Mexico were Guatemala (19%), El Salvador (15%), Honduras (12%) and Ecuador (1%).
For the frequency for each of the other nationalities among those leaving ICE detention from the Baptist Child & Family Services 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 63 percent. As mentioned above, this compares with 11 percent for all detainees.
Nationalities Ranked in Top 10 Left ICE Detention Total Deported/
Voluntary
DeparturePercent - ALL 985 111 11.2 % 1 Guatemala 278 4 1.4 % 2 El Salvador 266 0 0.0 % 3 Honduras 258 6 2.3 % 4 Mexico 160 101 63.1 % 5 Ecuador 12 0 0.0 % 6 Nicaragua 3 0 0.0 % 7 Cuba 2 0 0.0 % Spain 2 0 0.0 % 9 Belize 1 0 0.0 % Bolivia 1 0 0.0 % Brazil 1 0 0.0 % Dominican Republic 1 0 0.0 %
Table 4: Numbers leaving ICE detention by nationality
during the last 12 months
With the highest rate of 63 percent were detainees from Mexico where 160 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.
