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Earlier this year, Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Clearinghouse (TRAC) released data obtained from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding all “interior arrests” carried out by the agency from October 2014 to May 2018. This information is particularly important for those of us concerned about immigrant rights in our communities, for it reveals a diversity of tactics used by federal, state, and local agents to investigate and enforce immigration law. UWCHR undergraduate student researcher Marí Ramirez and graduate student researcher Francisca Gómez Baeza took a deep dive into the data to see what it reveals about pathways to deportation in Washington state.
Among other findings, the data shows that almost half of the reported 7,139 ICE arrests in Washington state during this period involve collaboration with local jails. Nearly a quarter of those arrested via jails had no criminal conviction, and others were convicted of minor crimes such as traffic offenses.
The data also shows a high rate of at-large arrests in King County, which has the state’s lowest rate of arrest via collaboration with jails. This suggests that while “sanctuary” policies restricting ICE access to jails work, ICE adapts by carrying out more arrests in the community.
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