Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the
Mecklenburg County Jail
Charlotte, North Carolina
Detainees Deported or Released Number last 12 months 93 Out of total detained 284 Facility ranking on detainees top 56 %
Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facilityDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 93 detainees housed at the Mecklenburg County Jail 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. Additional information about the arrangement, including whether a private company may operate the facility for the government, was not available at the time this report was posted.
Those individuals who departed from this facility because they were leaving ICE detention made up 33 percent of the 284 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 Mecklenburg County Jail 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 Mecklenburg County Jail 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 Mecklenburg County Jail last year ranked in the top 56 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that 56 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of exits, while 44 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 higher percentage of detainees (87 percent) left the country from the Mecklenburg County Jail 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 Mecklenburg County Jail was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for the vast majority (95 percent) of these detainees, the Mecklenburg County Jail was the first place they were sent when they were detained by ICE. The remaining 5 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 95 percent arrived at the Mecklenburg County Jail 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 Mecklenburg County Jail on average had stayed at somewhat fewer (1.2) ICE facilities.
Reason Left ICE Facility Profile U.S Profile Number Percent Percent Deported/Removed 81 87.0 % 55.3 % Bonded out 4 4.3 % 11.0 % U.S. Marshal or Other Agency 3 3.2 % 4.5 % Withdrawal 3 3.2 % 0.2 % Orders of Recognizance or Supervision 1 1.0 % 19.8 % Prosecutorial Discretion 1 1.0 % 1.0 % Alternative ATD custody 0 . 0.1 % Died 0 . 0.0 % Escaped 0 . 0.0 % Release to ORR 0 . 0.1 % Paroled 0 . 5.2 % Proceedings Terminated 0 . 1.3 % Voluntary departure 0 . 0.9 % Total 93 100.0 % 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, the most common reason detainees left the Mecklenburg County Jail was that they were deported. A total of 81 individuals (87 percent) were deported or removed from the Mecklenburg County Jail 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.)
Bonded out. A group of individuals (4 or 4 percent) were also "bonded out." This generally covers situations where the individual posts a bond and is released while awaiting a decision on their deportation (removal) case. The amount of the bond is set by ICE, or by an Immigration Judge. Many individuals are not eligible to be released because their continued detention is considered mandatory under provisions in the immigration laws.
Transferred to criminal custody. A total of 3 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.
Withdraw entry request. Individuals also leave ICE detention for a variety of additional reasons. One of these is that individuals who have been detained may be allowed to "withdraw" their request to enter the country. If a person withdraws their request, this effectively means they must leave the country. A total of 3 individuals (3 percent) fell into this category. Unlike deportation where the person is legally barred for a period of years and sometimes permanently from coming back to the United States, a person who withdraws their request is not for that reason barred from re-entry into this country.
Orders. Orders are additional mechanisms that are sometimes used to release a person while their case is pending, or awaiting removal. 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 was one detainee who left the Mecklenburg County Jail detention for these reasons: one with an order of recognizance, and none with an order of supervision.
Prosecutorial discretion. The Department of Homeland Security sets immigration enforcement priorities and guidance on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion (PD), including special programs on deferred action for childhood arrivals. To focus its limited resources on higher priority targets, individuals that don't fall into these high priority categories may -- through the exercise of prosecutorial discretion -- be released from custody and any proposed deportation actions deferred. One individual (1 percent) was released under these PD programs.
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 Mecklenburg County Jail as either escaping or dying last year.
As shown in Table 3, no one was recorded as leaving the Mecklenburg County Jail during the past 12 months for the following reasons: Alternative ATD custody, Release to ORR, Paroled, Proceedings Terminated and Voluntary Return. 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 Mecklenburg County Jail departed from the national picture. It was the case that a higher proportion left because they were deported from this facility (87 percent) than was true for the U.S. as a whole (55 percent). No one left as a voluntary departure from this facility, while this was true for 1 percent of all individuals nationally.
In addition, differences were seen for individuals released on bond (4 versus 11 percent), detainees released on orders of recognizance or supervision (1 versus 20 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 Mecklenburg County Jail had a smaller proportion of detainees from Mexico - 37 percent among their exits. Detainees from Mexico were also the largest single nationality group among those leaving detention from the facility.
In descending order, the other top nationalities after Mexico that made up those leaving ICE detention from the Mecklenburg County Jail last year were: Jamaica (31%), India (3%), Belize (2%), Hungary (2%), Jordan (2%) and United States (2%).
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 Mecklenburg County Jail 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 82 percent to 100 percent. As mentioned above, this compares with 87 percent for all detainees.
Nationalities Ranked in Top 10 Left ICE Detention Total Deported/
Voluntary
DeparturePercent - ALL 93 81 87.0 % 1 Mexico 34 28 82.3 % 2 Jamaica 29 26 89.6 % 3 India 3 3 100.0 % 4 Belize 2 2 100.0 % Hungary 2 2 100.0 % Jordan 2 2 100.0 % United States 2 2 100.0 % 8 Australia 1 1 100.0 % Austria 1 1 100.0 % Botswana 1 1 100.0 % Chile 1 1 100.0 % China, Peoples Republic Of 1 1 100.0 % Colombia 1 1 100.0 % Dominica 1 1 100.0 % Egypt 1 1 100.0 % El Salvador 1 0 0.0 % France 1 1 100.0 % Honduras 1 0 0.0 % Italy 1 1 100.0 % Kuwait 1 1 100.0 % Nigeria 1 0 0.0 % St. Kitts-Nevis 1 1 100.0 % St. Lucia 1 1 100.0 % Tanzania 1 1 100.0 % Venezuela 1 1 100.0 % Zambia 1 1 100.0 %
Table 4: Numbers leaving ICE detention by nationality
during the last 12 months
More than one country was tied with the highest rate of 100 percent, where detainees were deported or took voluntary departure. At the other end of the range were detainees from Mexico, where 82 percent ended up deported or were allowed voluntary departure.
