South Carolina Federal Defense Attorney

(Miami, Fl) Director John Morton of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said yesterday his agency deported nearly 400,000 individuals during the fiscal year that ended in September, the highest number of removals in the agency’s history.

Morton announced said a little more than half, or approximately 55 percent of those deported, had felony or misdemeanor convictions. Officials stated the number of illegal immigrants convicted of a crime has risen 89 percent from 2008.

Authorities could not immediately say how many of those crimes related to re-entering the U.S. after being deported.

Individuals who have been deported can be convicted of a felony for returning to the U.S. and/or being found in the U.S. after deportation.

Officials also stated that of the nearly 400,000 individuals deported:

• more than 1,000 convicted of homicide.
• 5,800 were sexual offenders, and 
• approximately 80,000 people were convicted of drug related crimes or driving under the influence.

While these numbers are signficant and the crimes listed above are severe, it is important to remember that there is no indication of what the majority of immigrants deported were convicted of.  

“This comes down to focusing our resources as best we can on our priorities,” Morton said. “We continue to hope for comprehensive immigration reform at a national level, working with the Congress, but in the meantime, we work with the resources we have, under the laws we have.”

The message comes as the Obama administration has sought to respond to critics on both sides of the immigration issue. Immigration supporters protest law enforcement officials saying they are spending too much of their scarce resources rounding up families living illegally in the country who otherwise are law-abiding.

Others say the administration is not doing enough to minimize and prevent the flow of illegal immigration and protect Americans from potential foreign terrorists and other criminals.

Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security Secretary, has said the agency is “focusing its resources on criminals, recent border crossers, those who repeatedly cross the border and those people the department considers fugitives.”

Law enforcement officials claim two-thirds of those deported last year either recently crossed the border or had done so repeatedly.

By: Pete Strom, South CarolinaFederal Defense Attorney