U.S. Citizens Included As Targets of ICE Detainers

TRAC, Feb. 20, 2013 - "During a recent 50-month period covering FY 2008 through the start of FY 2012, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents issued nearly one million detainers. An immigration "detainer," often called an "immigration hold," is a notice issued by agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies when it intends to arrest someone. Only 22.6 percent of the time did the targeted individual have any criminal conviction, and only 8.6 percent of the charges were classified as a Level 1 or serious offense.

And while it is illegal for DHS to detain U.S. citizens, detainers were issued on a total of 834 citizens, according to ICE records.

Over 3,500 local, state and federal agencies received one or more ICE detainers. The analysis of ICE detainers was based on case-by-case records obtained from ICE by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) through a Freedom of Information Act request. For the full report, including figures by citizenship and detention location, go to:

http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/310/"