Deportations Increase Almost 50% in U.S.

Deportations nationwide surged almost 50% in the past fiscal year, driven largely by rising numbers of expulsions at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego and elsewhere, according to Immigration and Naturalization Service statistics released Friday.

The increase marks the fifth consecutive year of record-setting deportation totals.

Although the Clinton administration has touted its efforts to expel criminals, the new numbers show that nearly 70% of the 171,154 illegal immigrants deported last year had no criminal record.

Those expelled include illegal immigrants arrested at border stations and airports and in growing numbers of INS raids on homes and work sites. Critics say the aggressive tactics are sowing fear and separating families, but federal officials defend the policy.

“When I hear concerns out of the communities about us arresting illegal aliens, my response to that is that is exactly what we should be doing, that’s what we’ve done in the past, and that’s what we’ll do in the future,” said Thomas J. Schiltgen, the new INS district director in Los Angeles.

INS officials say, however, that their current operations target specific illegal immigrants and are not random sweeps, which were once commonplace.

The vast majority of deportees nationwide--81%--were Mexicans during fiscal 1998 (Oct. 1, 1997, to Sept. 30 ), INS records show. Nine percent or so were from Central America.

Much of the sharp rise in deportations during 1998 came from stepped-up enforcement efforts in San Diego and elsewhere along the U.S.-Mexico border. At the same time, expulsions in several major immigrant hubs--including Los Angeles, New York and Miami--declined slightly.

Deportations in the six-county Los Angeles district--home to the nation’s largest concentration of illegal immigrants--dropped 4%, to 8,298, during fiscal 1998. Schiltgen, the district director, attributed the decline, in part, to a statistical quirk: Many deportees arrested in the Los Angeles area are later deported from detention centers elsewhere and thus not counted in the district’s final totals.

Behind the steady national rise in deportations are two key factors: tough new laws promoting speedy deportations, and record budget increases that have resulted in the hiring of more officers and immigration judges to hear deportation cases. Additional funds have also allowed for the rapid expansion of INS detention space.

Despite the steady increase, expulsions are still failing to keep pace with arrivals. According to INS estimates, some 350,000 illegal immigrants settle in the United States each year, adding to the more than 5 million already here--including more than 2 million in California.

“I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made in removals, but in the interior, and at our borders, we have much more to do,” INS Commissioner Doris Meissner said in a statement.

The sharp increase in deportations dramatizes the widespread impact of a sweeping 1996 immigration law overhaul. The legislation speeded the deportation process and rendered many more legal residents subject to expulsion because of past crimes.

U.S. authorities along the Southwest border have been aggressively implementing a streamlined, quick deportation process--so-called expedited removal--that was introduced in April 1997.

The controversial process allows for illegal immigrants arriving at border stations and airports to be deported--and banned from reentry to the United States for five years--with very limited appeal rights. The new laws permit INS officers to expel people in a matter of days or weeks--sometimes on the next plane--compared to a previous regimen that took months or years.

Making wide use of fast-track deportations, the INS district office in San Diego led the nation, deporting almost 58,000 people--a 65% increase from the previous year. Border areas in Arizona and Texas followed in the number of deportations.

Nationwide, 44% of those deported in the last fiscal year were expelled under the expedited removal rules. The vast majority did not have a right to appeal their expulsion. Before the procedure was put into place, only an immigration judge could order deportations. Those decisions could be appealed.

The new law, said Charles Wheeler, directing attorney for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, “highlights the fact that almost half of these people never have the right to challenge their deportation.”

Despite such complaints, constitutional challenges against expedited removal have failed to halt the procedure. The INS is now deporting about 1,200 people a week nationwide under the fast-track process.