Deportations up 40 percent in Pacific Northwest

Deportations from Washington, Oregon and Alaska have spiked by nearly 40 percent, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said Friday.

Immigration officials said the number of illegal aliens deported from those three states was 7,345 for the first nine months of the fiscal year. That number was up from 5,256 for the same period last year.

If the monthly average continues, the agency is on pace for a record-breaking year in the region, said Neil Clark, field office director for ICE detention and removal operations in Seattle.

Officials credit the increase in part to expansion of the Criminal Alien Program, in which immigration officers hone in on illegal aliens with criminal records and work with local law enforcement to process them. Those deportations increased by 26 percent in the same period. Of the more than 7,300 deported, more than 2,000 had prior criminal convictions.

"If you think of ICE's mission being public safety, the Criminal Alien Program really goes at the heart of that," agency spokeswoman Lori Dankers said.

The number of immigration officers visiting jails throughout the three states has increased.

"I think the message from this is if you're committing crime and you're foreign born, you're going to be found and be removed," Clark said.

Immigration investigations and work-site raids have also helped increase deportations, Clark added.

Last month, 32 illegal aliens were arrested at a manufacturing plant in Arlington, Wash., that supplies parts for commercial and military aircraft, including some made by Boeing. In 2007, 51 people were arrested at a United Parcel Service warehouse in Auburn, Wash., and more than 165 workers were detained at a Del Monte processing plant in Portland, Ore.

The latest numbers reflect the continuing crackdown on illegal immigration by ICE and other federal agencies. Nationwide, the number of deportations in the period increased from 210,000 to more than 234,000, about an 11 percent increase.

Between June 2007 and June 2008, nearly 6,000 people have been added to the Criminal Alien Program in Washington. That means ICE will monitor those who are in jail and deport them after the sentence is served. More than 4,500 people were added in Oregon.

ICE officials said they did not have specific breakdowns of the number of aliens convicted of felonies rather than less-serious misdemeanors.

Pramila Jayapal, executive director of OneAmerica, a Seattle-based immigrant advocate group, said the increase in deportation makes her worry about the protection of due process rights.

A surge in deportations, Jayapal said, means more overcrowding and medical risks for illegal immigrants at detention centers.

"The whole thing requires a call on Congress to stop the surge of deportation until we can make sure we can protect the rights of people that are being picked up," Jayapal said.

OneAmerica is scheduled to release a report next week that alleges human rights have been violated at the detention center in Tacoma, which serves the Northwest.

Backers of illegal immigration enforcement said the increase in deportations is a good sign, but they add that more penalties are needed for employers who hire illegal immigrants.

"Immigration authorities are out looking, that serves as discouragement for people coming here in the first place," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Nationally, Mexico remains the leading country of origin for deported illegal immigrants, followed by Honduras and Guatemala.