The unescorted deportee problem

Houston Chronicle:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials routinely put illegal immigrants unescorted on commercial flights for deportation, including some who are sex offenders or have other criminal records, according to documents and field agent accounts.

The practice has prompted complaints from a key U.S. senator and ICE union leaders, who contend that putting illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes on commercial airlines unescorted poses a severe public safety risk.

Unescorted deportees have caused disruptions on flights and have absconded after unscheduled stops, including two Peruvian deportees who disappeared from Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport in July, according to field agent reports collected by union officials. Internal ICE documents show that illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes involving victims as young as 11 have been allowed to fly unescorted.

“This is an absolute risk to public safety,” said Chris Crane, ICE Council 118's vice president for Detention and Removal Operations. “And it's happening every day.”

Of the 27,899 illegal immigrants put on commercial airlines last year for deportation, more than 75 percent flew unescorted, according to ICE data.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said she became “gravely concerned” about the policy after being told of at least three instances involving unescorted sex offenders placed on commercial flights. Last October, she wrote to Julie Myers, the then-head of ICE, requesting that the policy be changed to require escorts for all sex offenders. The Bush administration took no action and did not respond to the senator's letter, according to Landrieu's spokesman.

Pat Reilly, an ICE spokeswoman, said the agency reviews deportees' cases individually and considers whether they have a history of criminal, aggressive or antisocial behavior before deciding to put them on commercial flights. ICE supervisors then assess “the alien's risk to the public, as well as the likelihood of absconding,” Reilly said. She added that deportees may have records that do not necessarily make them a danger on a public flight, such as convictions for driving while intoxicated or fraud.

Reilly said the agency tries to use ICE-managed aircraft for deportations whenever possible, calling them secure and cost-effective. Only about 15 percent of the 186,930 illegal immigrants removed from the U.S. by air last year were placed on commercial flights, according to ICE data.

Reilly said if the deportees are unescorted, ICE does not need to notify the airlines because “they pose no risk” to the public.

ICE has coordinated the removal of 7,552 illegal immigrants classified as “criminal aliens” via commercial flights since Oct. 1, at a cost of nearly $44 million, according to ICE. ICE officials did not say how many of those “criminal aliens” were unescorted. The agency also did not respond to a request for the number of incidents and disruptions on commercial flights.

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The story goes on to describe some of the resulting disruptions. I suspect these are done to save money. The additional cost of sending a deportation officer along with them more than doubles the cost. Dealing with deportation is an expensive effort, but it is one that we must do to deter others from coming here and driving up the other costs of illegals.