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          PRESS   RELEASEApril 29, 2014MPI   Report Assesses Current-Era Deportation System and Record Removals; Outlines   Sharply Different Enforcement Pictures that Have Emerged Over Past Two   Decades at Border and in U.S. Interior .WASHINGTON — More than 4.5 million unauthorized   immigrants and other removable non-citizens have been deported from the   United States since Congress passed sweeping legislation in 1996 to toughen   the nation's immigration enforcement system, with the pace of formal removals   rising from about 70,000 in 1996 to a record 419,000 in 2012.The current-era deportation system—shaped by laws expanding and speeding the   removal process, major increases in immigration enforcement spending and   policy decisions by three successive administrations—is characterized by   sharply different enforcement pictures at the border and within the United   States. At the border, a near zero-tolerance system has emerged, where most   unauthorized immigrants are subject to formal removal and criminal charges. Within   the country, there is greater flexibility, with priorities and resources   focused on a smaller share of the sizeable unauthorized population. The   differences reflect different goals and circumstances confronting border and   interior enforcement. But their impacts are converging, raising complex   questions for policymakers.A Migration Policy Institute (MPI) report issued today, The Deportation   Dilemma: Reconciling Tough and Humane Enforcement, assesses the border and interior enforcement systems and outcomes   over the past two decades. The report analyzes the current pipelines for   removal and key trends in border and interior apprehensions, deportations and   criminal prosecutions. With the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the   midst of a review of its deportation policies to see if they can be conducted   "more humanely," the report also examines the policy levers the   Obama administration has to influence deportation policies, practices and   results."While adjustments to DHS enforcement priorities can be made, actions by   the executive branch alone cannot reconcile the fundamentally competing   policy demands the immigration enforcement system now confronts," said   report co-author Doris Meissner, director of MPI's U.S. Immigration Policy   Program and former commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization   Service. "The deportation dilemma is this: How does the government carry   out its enforcement responsibilities and mandates while also shielding   U.S.-citizen and immigrant families and communities from the inevitable   damage that a robust enforcement system inflicts?"The report identifies three key enforcement trends that have emerged since   passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of   1996:A        fundamental shift from a deportation system focused on informal returns        (voluntary return and departure) to one focused on formal removals,        which have more severe consequences for those who are repatriated. Formal        removals, which averaged 3 percent of all deportations in FY 1970-96,        increased after 1996 and then spiked sharply beginning in 2006, reaching        a high of 65 percent in 2012. Voluntary return, used in 82 percent of        apprehensions at the Southwest border in FY 2005, plummeted to 21        percent in FY 2012.Major        expansion in the use of non-judicial removal procedures such as        expedited removal and reinstatement of removal, in which immigration        enforcement officers rather than immigration judges make deportation        decisions. Expedited removals and reinstatements accounted for 75        percent of all deportations in FY 2012—the highest proportion ever. By        comparison, analogous non-judicial removals accounted for just 3 percent        of removals in FY 1996.Escalating        criminalization. The proportion of those apprehended at the Southwest        border charged with immigration-related criminal offenses rose from 1        percent in FY 1997 to 22 percent in FY 2013. Immigration cases now        represent almost half of the docket of federal district and magistrate        courts, as people have been charged with immigration-related crimes        almost 1 million times since 1997. And while criminals represent a        rising share of removals, MPI analysis of newly obtained U.S.        Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data for FY 2003-2013 shows        that non-citizens charged exclusively with immigration-related crimes        accounted for 55 percent in the increase in ICE criminal removals        between FY 2008-2013.While there has been overall policy continuity in   border enforcement policies for a decade or more, the Obama administration   has introduced a significant policy change for enforcement within the   country. The administration established explicit enforcement priorities and   updated guidelines for exercising discretion not to deport certain   people who fall outside established enforcement priority categories. The   great majority of the nearly 2 million people removed by the current   administration during its first five years fall into one or more of the DHS   enforcement priority categories. Yet while the administration's policies have   focused enforcement on high-priority cases, the report finds that the record   has been mixed when it comes to taking low-priority cases out of enforcement   pipelines."The capacity of the current deportation system to remove 400,000 or   more unauthorized immigrants per year represents a new historical   reality," said report co-author Marc Rosenblum, deputy director of MPI's   U.S. Immigration Policy Program. "The current system is deeply   unsatisfying to both sides in the immigration debate. Those who favor tougher   enforcement object to the low priority being placed on deporting unauthorized   immigrants who fall outside stated enforcement priority categories. Those who   are concerned about the harsh effects of deportation object to the continued   removal of large numbers of people with strong ties to American families and   communities."The report assesses a number of potential policy reforms, including refining   enforcement priorities based on earlier implementation experience, providing   opportunities for greater judicial oversight of removals, closer examination   of cases of non-citizens with deep ties in the United States and improving   consistency around the country in the application of enforcement guidelines."Whatever answer the administration gives when it concludes its policy   review is not likely to diminish controversy and the disagreements over   issues of deportation until the real solution—a rationalized, updated   immigration law—is one day politically possible," Meissner said.The report can be downloaded at www.migrationpolicy.org/research/deportation-dilemma-reconciling-tough-humane-enforcement.For more MPI reports, issue briefs, and data   pertinent to the current U.S.   immigration policy debate, visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/us-immigration-policy-program/CIR###The Migration Policy Institute is an   independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank in Washington, D.C.   dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides   analysis, development and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the   local, national and international levels. For more on MPI, please visit www.migrationpolicy.org.&#160;