Detainees Leaving ICE Detention from the
Val Verde Detention Center
Del Rio, Texas
Detainees Deported or Released Number last 12 months 112 Out of total detained 4,280 Facility ranking on detainees top 52 %
Table 1: Number leaving ICE detention
from this facilityDuring the most recent 12 month period for which data are available, a total of 112 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 3 percent of the 4,280 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 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 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 Val Verde Detention Center 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 Val Verde Detention Center last year ranked in the top 52 percent nationwide in the number of individuals leaving ICE detention. This means that 52 percent of the locations contributed the same or a larger numbers of exits, while 48 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 (66 percent) left the country from the Val Verde Detention Center 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 Val Verde Detention Center was the first ICE facility in which these detainees were held. According to ICE records, for all these detainees, the Val Verde Detention Center was the first place they were sent when they were detained by ICE.
For the United States as a whole, last year the average number of ICE facilities detainees moved through was 1.8. Detainees at the Val Verde Detention Center on average had stayed at somewhat fewer (1.0) ICE facilities.
Reason Left ICE Facility Profile U.S Profile Number Percent Percent Deported/Removed 73 65.1 % 55.3 % Orders of Recognizance or Supervision 31 27.6 % 19.8 % U.S. Marshal or Other Agency 7 6.2 % 4.5 % Voluntary departure 1 0.8 % 0.9 % Alternative ATD custody 0 . 0.1 % Bonded out 0 . 11.0 % Died 0 . 0.0 % Escaped 0 . 0.0 % Release to ORR 0 . 0.1 % Paroled 0 . 5.2 % Prosecutorial Discretion 0 . 1.0 % Proceedings Terminated 0 . 1.3 % Withdrawal 0 . 0.2 % Total 112 100.0 % 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 Val Verde Detention Center was that they were deported. A total of 73 individuals (65 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.)
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 were 31 (28 percent) who left the Val Verde Detention Center detention for these reasons: 23 with orders of recognizance, and 8 with orders of supervision.
Transferred to criminal custody. A total of 7 individuals (6 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.
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. One detainee left the Val Verde Detention Center 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 Val Verde Detention Center as either escaping or dying last year.
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: Alternative ATD custody, Bonded Out, Release to ORR, Paroled, Prosecutorial Discretion, Proceedings Terminated 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 (65 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 (28 versus 20 percent), individuals released on bond (none 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 Val Verde Detention Center had a much larger proportion of detainees from Mexico - 73 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 Val Verde Detention Center last year were: Honduras (12%), El Salvador (6%), Guatemala (4%), Cuba (2%) and Nicaragua (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 Val Verde Detention Center 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 90 percent. As mentioned above, this compares with 66 percent for all detainees.
Nationalities Ranked in Top 10 Left ICE Detention Total Deported/
Voluntary
DeparturePercent - ALL 112 74 66.0 % 1 Mexico 82 74 90.2 % 2 Honduras 13 0 0.0 % 3 El Salvador 7 0 0.0 % 4 Guatemala 5 0 0.0 % 5 Cuba 2 0 0.0 % Nicaragua 2 0 0.0 % 7 Peru 1 0 0.0 %
Table 4: Numbers leaving ICE detention by nationality
during the last 12 months
With the highest rate of 90 percent were detainees from Mexico where 82 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.
