Analysis: Immigrants Detained In Ga. Deported At Higher Rate
This April 13, 2009 photo shows a detainee at Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., leaving the cafeteria after lunch to go back to their living units. The all-male detention center with a capacity of 1,924 detainees is operated on contract by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America, the country’s largest private … Continued
Immigrants detained in Georgia’s immigration detention centers were deported at a higher percentage rate in the last fiscal year and were less likely to receive bond than immigrants in detention centers nationwide, according to an analysis by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The organization said it used data obtained from U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement that looked at data in fiscal year 2015 from October 2014 to July 2015.
The analysis said that nationwide, about 60 percent of people in detention centers were deported, but at Georgia’s two largest immigration detention centers, the rates were higher. At Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, the rate was about 87 percent, and at Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, the rate was about 75 percent.
An official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the agency is reviewing the report, but at initial review, questioned the methodology of the analysis, saying the national deportation rate could be higher because those released on bond temporarily could also end up being deported.
The center’s analysis found that detainees at Stewart and Irwin Detention Centers received bond at a lower rate than the national average of 10.5 percent. At Stewart, 5.2 percent of detainees got bond and at Irwin, 7.7 percent of detainees did, according to the findings.
“It’s much, much more difficult to fight your case effectively from detention,” said Eunice Cho, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center. “You have a much better chance of both finding an attorney, building the evidence for your case, finding witnesses and having more resources in order to properly adjudicate your case if you’re not locked up.”
Federal data show immigration courts in Georgia do grant relief at a lower rate than courts nationwide. In fiscal year 2015, Atlanta’s immigration court granted 2 percent of asylum requests, compared to 48 percent nationwide, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
9(MDAxODM0MDY4MDEyMTY4NDA3MzI3YjkzMw004))
Top Stories
