Deportation Surging in Detroit Area
By admin at 5 December, 2008, 4:33 pm
The Detroit area saw deportation of illegal immigrants rise about 45 percent over the 12-month period ending September 30th - an all time high.
But federal officials say the area is on pace to surpass that figure in 2009.
Deportations in the Detroit area rose from 5,057 in 2007 to more than 7,500 for the 2008 fiscal year, but in October and November alone the Office of Detention and Removal Operations deported a quarter of the 2008 number, according to the Detroit News.
“It might have been a safe bet for [illegal immigrants] to be here in the years past, but no longer,” said Detriot Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agent Brian Moskowitz. “Not as long as Congress gives us more resources.”
But the increase in deportation in Detroit is not without its detractors. Demonstrators gather once a week to protest the crackdown and Catholic nuns hold vigils at the Wayne County jail where some immigrants are held.
ICE is an agency of the Department of Homeland Security and in fiscal year 2007 it removed 276,912 illegal immigrants from the country.
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