Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday said that her department set a record for removal of illegal aliens from the country in FY ’10, removing more than 392,000, with half of those being convicted criminals.
The FY ’10 figures are 23,000 removals more than in FY ’09, with 81,000 higher criminal removals.
“This administration has focused on enforcing our immigration laws in a smart, effective manner that prioritizes public safety and national security and holds employers accountable who knowingly and repeatedly break the law,” Napolitano said in a statement. “Our approach has yielded historic results, removing more convicted criminal aliens than ever before and issuing more financial sanctions on employers who knowingly and repeatedly violate immigration laws than during the entire previous administration.”
The increase in criminal removals is due in large part to a widespread expansion of the Secure Communities program, which employes biometric information and services at the state and local level to identify and remove criminal aliens in state prisons and local jails. Secure Communities was deployed to 14 jurisdictions in 2008 and over 660 currently.
DHS said it is on track to expand Secure Communities to all law enforcement jurisdictions nationwide by 2013.
Since January 2009 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has audited more than 3,200 employers suspected of hiring illegal immigrants and debarred 225 companies and individuals, all increases over the Bush administration. ICE has also imposed about $50 million in fines. n