A Three-Part Report on the Real-Life Impacts of Immigration Enforcement

The Orange County Register has a great three part series looking at the border and immigration enforcement.  Reporters spent a year examining U.S. efforts to deport undocumented immigrants accused of crimes and interviewed law enforcement officials on both sides of the border, deportees and experts in immigration and international law. The story reports on a system overwhelmed by the sheer number of immigrants and hampered by public agencies working at cross-purposes. Although there are some successes, there are also unintended consequences. Here is a guide to the series:

Bus to the border Part One:  The U.S. spends $2 billion a year on deportation efforts, with little measurable effect on either crime or illegal immigration. Using local police agencies to help find border jumpers has been effective, but drawn criticism from international rights groups. Federal prosecutors don’t share the same zeal as the immigration agency, seldom prosecuting immigrants who have repeatedly re-entered the U.S. illegally.

Deportation splits ‘city with a heart’ Part Two: Immigration checks by local police snare many dangerous criminals. But the majority of those caught were accused of traffic offenses or other non-violent crime. Some law enforcement officials who once supported such programs now question whether it is a good use of resources.

Criminal deportations fuel border crime wave Part Three: Dumped in Tijuana and other border cities, with little money and few connections, desperate deportees sometimes turn to crime. The immigrants help to fund – and sometimes, join up with – criminal enterprises that smuggle people across the border. Police on both sides of the border describe a more dangerous place. Calls for a more pragmatic solution.

KJ