Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the
Lutheran Social Services Facility
El Paso, Texas
Detainees Deported or Released Number last 12 months 259 Out of total detained 259 Facility ranking on detainees top 36 %
Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facilityDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 259 detainees housed at the Lutheran Social Services 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 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 almost 100 percent of the 259 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."
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 Lutheran Social Services Facility 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 Lutheran Social Services Facility last year ranked in the top 36 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that 36 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of exits, while 64 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 (1 percent) left the country from the Lutheran Social Services Facility 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 Lutheran Social Services Facility was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for the vast majority (81 percent) of these detainees, the Lutheran Social Services Facility was the first place they were sent when they were detained by ICE. The remaining 19 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 91 percent arrived at the Lutheran Social Services 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. All detainees either entered and left this one facility, or had spent time at one additional ICE facility before their transfer to the Lutheran Social Services Facility. 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 Lutheran Social Services Facility 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 254 98.0 % 19.8 % Paroled 3 1.1 % 5.2 % Voluntary departure 2 0.7 % 0.9 % Alternative ATD custody 0 . 0.1 % Bonded out 0 . 11.0 % Deported/Removed 0 . 55.3 % Died 0 . 0.0 % Escaped 0 . 0.0 % Release to ORR 0 . 0.1 % Prosecutorial Discretion 0 . 1.0 % Proceedings Terminated 0 . 1.3 % U.S. Marshal or Other Agency 0 . 4.5 % Withdrawal 0 . 0.2 % Total 259 100.0 % 100.0 %
Table 3: Reasons individuals left ICE detention during the last 12 months
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 254 (98 percent) who left the Lutheran Social Services Facility detention for these reasons: 254 with orders of recognizance, and none with an order of supervision.
Parole. ICE also has discretionary authority to "parole" individuals and give them temporary entry into the country, often on humanitarian grounds. Individuals with serious medical conditions, pregnant women, and certain juveniles are among the categories considered. Other categories are individuals who will serve as witnesses in judicial or administrative proceedings, and individuals whose parole is considered by ICE in the "public interest." There were a total of 3 individuals (1 percent) who were paroled from this facility.
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 2 detainees (1 percent) left the Lutheran Social Services Facility last year as voluntary departures and voluntary returns.
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 by the Lutheran Social Services Facility as either escaping or dying last year.
As shown in Table 3, no one was recorded as leaving the Lutheran Social Services Facility during the past 12 months for the following reasons: Alternative ATD custody, Bonded Out, Removed, Release to ORR, Prosecutorial Discretion, Proceedings Terminated, U.S. Marshals 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 Lutheran Social Services Facility departed from the national picture. No one left because they were deported from this facility, while for the U.S. as a whole 55 percent left for this reason.
In addition, differences were seen for detainees released on orders of recognizance or supervision (98 versus 20 percent), for those paroled (1 versus 5 percent), individuals released on bond (none versus 11 percent), and those released to the U.S. Marshal or other agency (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 Lutheran Social Services Facility had a much smaller proportion of detainees from Mexico - 15 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 Lutheran Social Services Facility last year were: Guatemala (44%) , El Salvador (25%), Mexico (15%), Honduras (14%) 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%).
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 5 percent. As mentioned above, this compares with 1 percent for all detainees.
Nationalities Ranked in Top 10 Left ICE Detention Total Deported/
Voluntary
DeparturePercent - ALL 259 2 0.7 % 1 Guatemala 114 0 0.0 % 2 El Salvador 66 0 0.0 % 3 Mexico 40 2 5.0 % 4 Honduras 37 0 0.0 % 5 Ecuador 2 0 0.0 %
Table 4: Numbers leaving ICE detention by nationality
during the last 12 months
With the highest rate of 5 percent were detainees from Mexico where 40 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.
