County deportations on the rise (The East Oregonian)

County deportations on the rise
New rules send more inmates away

By ERIN MILLS
The East Oregonian
8/20/2009 11:37:00 AM

Immigration and Customs Enforcement took nine Umatilla County Jail inmates Wednesday to the correctional facility in The Dalles, their first stop on the deportation process. They were among a growing number of people deported from Eastern Oregon for myriad reasons.

So far this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE, held 246 inmates at the jail in Pendleton and sent 125 to either a detention center or their country of origin. That is a sharp increase from 2007, when officers lodged 251 illegal inmates at the jail and transported 87.

Morrow County Sheriff Ken Matlack attributed the increase to a number of factors, including the economy and new Department of Motor Vehicle rules that make it harder for illegal immigrants to get a driver's license.

It is the Morrow County Sheriff's Office's policy to arrest any driver who is caught without a proof of identification, Matlack said, the result of which has been more arrests.

"A lot of those people, they (ICE) are deporting, which they've never done before, which is unusual," Matlack told the Morrow County Court on Wednesday.

Because it is difficult for immigrants to find work now, Matlack said, some of them are turning to crime to support themselves. Those with serious convictions, such as felonies, are more likely to be deported.

But the illegal immigrants are by no means the majority of those committing crimes in Eastern Oregon. The jail roster currently shows 139 inmates, five of which have ICE holds. The economy has led to a general increase of crime across the board, Matlack said.

The Morrow County Sheriff's Office use to reserve nine beds at the Umatilla County Jail. It now uses an average of 13 beds a day and is starting to evaluate inmates based on the seriousness of their crime, an everyday process for Umatilla County.

Matlack also said the federal government seems to have an increased will to deport illegal immigrants who engage in crminial activity now, in part because of concerns for homeland security.

ICE did not respond to the East Oregonian's requests for an interview.

Umatilla County Sheriff John Trumbo said he believed that only illegal immigrants with a criminal history end up deported.

"INS is making a point of taking all those people who are deserving of going back," he said.

Trumbo said there are more deportations now because there are more illegal immigrants in Umatilla and Morrow counties, and an increase in crime among illegal immigrants.

Both Umatilla and Morrow counties have received funds from the state criminal aliens assistance program, an effort by the federal government to offset the costs of housing illegal criminals. Funds for that program, however, are on the wane. In years past, Umatilla County got between $60,000 and $80,000 per year from the program; last year, the county got $24,000.

"And it's not because we don't have people who fit the criteria," Trumbo said. "It's because the money is not there for them to pay it."

Trumbo said he didn't think that crime in general is on the rise - the jail is just holding criminals longer.

One reason is that it as a new surveillance system that has made it possible to house more people. The county budgets for 135 inmates per day, but because of the surveillance system and a full staff of experienced, certified corrections officers, Trumbo said, they have recently held as many as 164 for several days.