Idaho's Ticket to Deportation (KIVI-Boise, ID)

Idaho's Ticket to Deportation

KIVI-TV TODAY'S 6 NEWS
Posted: May 14, 2008 12:37 AM

It's a process we've never been able to show you before but now you can get an inside look into what happens when immigrants are deported. But you might be surprised to see not all the detainees are illegal immigrants. In fact, some have never been to the country they're being sent back to.

Every week, the regional branch of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement loads a private plane in Twin Falls with anywhere from 25 to 80 detainees. Those detainees are either sent to border cities to be transfered to Mexican authorities or fly elsewhere to face a judge who will make the final determination on if they stay or go.

The majority of the men are from Mexico but rounding out the top five countries of immigrant origin are Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Brazil.

Sometimes the immigrants are actually legal residents, as is the case with Carlos Valdez. Valdez was stopped at the Canadian border while trying to deliver an over-sized load for the shipping company he works for.

But Valdez pleaded no-contest to an aggravated battery charge while he was in high school that he said stemmed from a fight. And with that felony conviction in his past, he cannot attempt to cross borders, something he was not aware of.

Valdez's parents immigrated from Mexico legally over 30 years ago. His wife and brother are citizens. When Valdez came to the States, he was just one-year-old. And he's at a loss.

" I've been here all this time, it's all I know. What am I going to do in Mexico?" Valdez said. "I have no ties over there."

But some fly under the radar, like one man who asked we not identify him. He's been in Boise for 12 years, was working as a sous-chef in a steakhouse and was caught only when he was stopped for drunk driving in November 2007.

I.C.E. regional director Steven Branch said all of the men have been convicted of crimes. And for the ones who are here illegally, he calls it a double-whammy.

"They've crossed the line now. Now they're not just here illegally," Branch said. "They've crossed the line because they become involved in criminal activity."

Watch my entire report on the ticket to deportation to see how the process works.