Secure Communities by the Numbers: New Analysis of Deportation Practices

Secure Communities by the Numbers: An Analysis of Demographics and Due Process

By Aarti Kohli, Peter L. Markowitz and Lisa Chavez

Key Findings Include:

• Approximately 3,600 United States citizens have been arrested by ICE through the Secure Communities program;
• More than one-third (39%) of individuals arrested through Secure Communities report that they have a U.S. citizen spouse or child, meaning that approximately 88,000 families with U.S. citizen members have been impacted by Secure Communities;
• Latinos comprise 93% of individuals arrested through Secure Communities though they only comprise 77% of the undocumented population in the United States;
• Only 52% of individuals arrested through Secure Communities are slated to have a hearing before an immigration judge;
• Only 24% of individuals arrested through Secure Communities and who had immigration hearings had an attorney compared to 40% of all immigration court respondents who have counsel;
• Only 2% of non-citizens arrested through Secure Communities are granted relief from deportation by an immigration judge as compared to 14% of all immigration court respondents who are granted relief;
• A large majority (83%) of people arrested through Secure Communities is placed in ICE detention as compared with an overall DHS immigration detention rate of 62%, and ICE does not appear to be exercising discretion based on its own prioritization system when deciding whether or not to detain an individual.

The complete report is available here.