Majority of Florida deportees aren't criminals (Palm Beach Post)

Majority of Florida deportees aren't criminals
Immigrant advocates say ICE is arresting people after minor traffic infractions

March 26, 2011|By John Lantigua, The Palm Beach Post

Undocumented immigrants in Florida who have no criminal record are more likely to be deported than such individuals in other parts of the country.

Half of the 392,000 people deported nationwide in fiscal 2010 were categorized as criminal aliens, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But in Florida, only 5,314 of the 15,345 people deported — 34.6 percent — were labeled criminal aliens. The other 10,031 were noncriminal deportees.

Criminal aliens are those convicted of serious crimes — such as homicide, kidnapping, robbery, major drug offenses, larceny, arson, fraud and human smuggling — or who previously were deported and re-entered the U.S. without permission. A person with repeated misdemeanors also can face deportation.

ICE officials say the Obama administration has placed new emphasis on removing undocumented immigrants who threaten public safety, rather than staging raids that target all illegal immigrants. But the Florida numbers run contrary to that emphasis, immigrant advocates say.