ICE arrest records show most illegal immigrants caught in state lack criminal records (Tulsa World)

ICE arrest records show most illegal immigrants caught in state lack criminal records

By GAVIN OFF World Data Editor
Published: 11/29/2010 2:21 AM
Last Modified: 11/29/2010 5:15 AM

Most illegal immigrants arrested by fugitive operations teams in Oklahoma do not have criminal records, data show.

And, although the data are incomplete, most of those with an arrest history committed misdemeanors, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency reported.

The ICE data detail more than 1,100 arrests of illegal immigrants in Oklahoma since 2008. It's unclear exactly how many individuals were arrested because the data do not include names. They could include multiple arrests for a single person.

The Tulsa World reviewed the information, which it obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.

Doug Stump, the vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said: "I'm convinced (ICE's) mission as charged to focus on criminal aliens has been sidetracked. I think (ICE's) job is to protect the country from harm. I don't know that a 60-year-old grandmother who missed her deportation meeting has a priority nearly as high as someone who's committed a violent crime."

ICE developed the National Fugitive Operations Program in 2003 to find and deport fugitive illegal immigrants. It started with eight teams. Now it has more than 100.

Fugitives are those who have received final deportation orders from an immigration judge but have refused to go.

ICE reports indicate that the fugitive operations program should focus on:

* Fugitives who pose a threat to national security.

* Fugitives convicted of violent crimes or who otherwise pose a threat to the community.

* Fugitives convicted of crimes other than violent offenses.

Teams then can focus on those remaining fugitives.

But of the 1,118 arrests by the fugitive operations teams in Oklahoma since 2008, 59 percent involved people who did not have criminal records, data show. Fifty-four percent of those arrested in the Tulsa area had no criminal records.

"I would rather see my local law enforcement officers protect me from criminal activity," said Stump, whose law firm has offices in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

Carl Rusnok, an ICE spokesman, said the agency focuses on removing criminals and targets non-criminals as resources allow.

"We prioritize," he said. "We prioritize our budget, we prioritize our time."

Rusnok said nearly 393,000 people were deported from the U.S. in the last fiscal year. ICE reports show that more than 195,000 had criminal convictions.

Of the 463 criminal arrests by the fugitive operation teams in Oklahoma since 2008, 126 had felony convictions, data show. Again, a single person could have been charged with multiple crimes.

For example, Roberto Salvador Alvelais-Torres, 28, killed a 74-year-old Tulsa cyclist in a hit-and-run last year near U.S. 75 and the 1700 block of Southwest Boulevard. He was arrested on complaints of negligent homicide by motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident and operating a vehicle without a valid driver's license or insurance.

The crimes of those arrested in Oklahoma include 55 assaults, 26 hit-and-runs, 13 homicides and seven weapons offenses.

Carol Helm, the director of the group Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now, said ICE wasn't removing enough illegal immigrants.

She said it should not target only those who might be dangerous. Illegal immigrants, criminal and noncriminal alike, take jobs from U.S. citizens, she said.

"Any violator of our immigration laws should be deported," she said. "That's just the bottom line of it."

Annual budget for the National Fugitive Operations Program by fiscal year

2006: $63.3 million
2007: $183.2 million
2008: $218.9 million
2009: $226.5 million
2010: $229.7 million

Crimes committed by illegal aliens who were arrested by fugitive operations in Oklahoma from 2008 through mid-2010

Assaults: 55
Hit and run: 26
Cocaine sales: 15
Homicide: 13
Marijuana sales: 13

(A single person might have been charged with multiple crimes)

Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement