Sunday, November 15, 2009

Violent Criminals Deported, then set free

This article from The Dallas Morning News points out a really dilemma for supporters of deportation of violent offenders: in many cases, and for many years, these people have been deported to their home counties, where they are set free.

It seems odd to me that anyone would see this as a preferable solution to keeping the offenders here to serve their time. I understand that it's expensive to jail someone (although most people don't seem to see this as a problem, from the rates of incarceration in the U.S.). But it seems wrongheaded to send people home without serving their time, particularly when the reality is that a good number of them will try to re-enter the U.S.

Because these offenders have been deported BEFORE trial, it is entirely possible that the only thing they are guilty of is being in the U.S. without authorization. It just might be a good idea to find out for sure before we start shipping them home.

Here is a list of the crimes committed by immigrants who have been deported before trial in Dallas:

An investigator with the Dallas County district attorney's office found nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants who were not tried for crimes they were accused of. He said most were deported by immigration officials before they could stand trial. But many were never arrested. The cases go back to 1991 and don't include all cases in the DA's office.

Murder 128

Attempted murder 18

Manslaughter 16

Negligent homicide 3

Child abuse 409

Sexual assault 54

Aggravated assault 307                                                                                                          
Aggravated robbery, kidnapping, other 49


in reference to: Hundreds in Dallas County deported before their trials | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Breaking News for Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas Morning News (view on Google Sidewiki)

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