Inside ICE: Volume 2, Issue 25

ICE DRO’s Torres Joins Secretary Chertoff At SBI Press Conference

Acting Director of the ICE Office of Detention and Removal John Torres appeared at a press conference December 1 with DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and Chief of the Border Patrol David Aguilar to discuss ICE’s role in the DHS Secure Border Initiative (SBI).

The Secure Border Initiative (SBI) is a comprehensive multi-year plan to secure America’s borders and reduce illegal migration. Secretary Chertoff has announced an overall vision for the SBI that includes, among other initiatives, expanded ICE detention and removal capabilities to eliminate “catch and release” once and for all, and greatly increased ICE interior enforcement of our immigration laws—including more robust worksite enforcement.

Speaking at the press conference, Torres said one aspect of the SBI stems from the findings of a working group that studied the removal process in order to determine how ICE can remove people more efficiently. Torres said that, as a result of the study, ICE had reengineered the removal process for “OTMs”— aliens who are nationalities other than Mexican—and expanded the use of expedited removals in order to attain greater efficiency.

“One of the first items that this working group identified,” Torres said, “was that the use of expedited removal in Operation Texas Hold ‘Em and in the Arizona Border Control Initiative was actually a very efficient process.”

Expedited removal is a legal process that allows ICE to remove illegal aliens without a formal hearing before an immigration judge if the aliens have no credible claim to asylum or any other relief from deportation. Torres said that with expedited removal, ICE can decrease the processing time—from apprehension to removal—from approximately 90 days to around 30 days, with a resulting increase in available detention bed space. Torres said the use of expedited removal, as well as funding for 2,000 additional detention bed spaces in ICE’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 budget, will aid ICE in meeting the SBI objectives.

Under the SBI, Hondurans, Brazilians and Nicaraguan nationals apprehended across the entire Southwest border are now in expedited removal, and Guatemalans were added to the expedited removal process early this month.

“People from these countries of origination are now going to be in expedited removal,” Secretary Chertoff said. “They will be detained until they’re returned, and they will be returned home. Guatemalans totaled over 22,600 apprehensions in Fiscal Year ’05, and for the first month-and-a-half of ’06, we’ve already had 3,200 apprehensions, so this is a significant number of people.”

On December 8, DHS announced that under SBI, more than 3,850 non-Mexican aliens were turned over to ICE for detention under expedited removal. Thus far, ICE has removed roughly 2,750 of these individuals from the country.

Back to Top

Landmark Marriage Fraud Case Nets 44 In California

ICE DRO’s Torres Joins Secretary Chertoff At SBI Press Conference

Jordanian Man Pleads Guilty To Middle East Smuggling Conspiracy

ICE Arrests Salvadoran Fugitive, Convicted Sex Offender

ICE Money Laundering Case Nabs Nine in Salt Lake City

Former Boy Scout Exec Gets 8 Years For Child Porn

ICE New Orleans Arrests 14 Illegal Workers

L.A. Woman Pleads Guilty To Trafficking Her Niece For Prostitution

ICE Most Wanted

Returning A Mexican Fugitive

Receive the latest ICE newsletter twice a month right to your inbox. Simply enter your information below.