Testimony of Charles S. Shapiro, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
Before the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Committee on International Relations
U. S. House of Representatives
July 24, 2007
"Deportees in Latin America and the Caribbean"
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
It is a pleasure to appear before you today to discuss how the issue of deportation affects our bilateral relations with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Deportation is a top priority issue for many countries in Latin America, particularly in Central America and the Caribbean. First, just in case there is any doubt, the Administration supports and adheres firmly to U.S. law. Aliens who commit crimes or violate immigration law in the United States run the risk of being deported. The governments of Central America and the Caribbean recognize that it is their obligation to receive their own citizens.
That doesn't mean the process for accomplishing deportations cannot be improved. More than 95 percent of the almost 197,000 aliens deported in FY 2006 were sent to Western Hemisphere countries, 115,000 to Mexico alone. Clearly, this puts a burden on the societies and the social systems of those countries. Governments tell us that they would like more information on the criminal records of deportees, if any, and assistance in reintegrating deportees into their home countries. The Department of State has worked in close coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and foreign governments to help improve and facilitate communication flows and to address concerns that receiving countries raise on process and assistance requests. We have also improved U.S. government cooperation on deportation issues through an interagency working group on deportations. This group coordinates action on deportation cases of political or national security significance, ensuring a unified U.S. Government effort with foreign governments to resolve these often urgent cases.
Central America
In close coordination with DHS, we have worked to implement the electronic travel document (eTD) system in the countries that receive the most deportees. The eTD system has been operational with Guatemala since January of this year, and since then we have successfully concluded agreements to extend the system to both Honduras and El Salvador. The eTD system provides biometric and biographic information on persons being deported from the United States, making that information available to those consuls here in the U.S. who are responsible for issuing travel documents and also to law enforcement officials in the receiving countries. The Department of State believes that this is an important step in ensuring that our partner nations have the accurate and timely information that they have asked for and which is needed to identify deportees who are returned home. The eTD system also minimizes the time individuals spend in detention facilities awaiting deportation, thus making deportation operations more efficient, cost effective, and humane.
Ensuring that deportees remain at home following their return requires making "home" more attractive. Recognizing this, the U.S. Government is working with our Central American neighbors to address the "push" factors that many migrants cite as the reasons they decided to undertake the difficult and dangerous journey to enter the United States illegally, such as the economic situation and job opportunities in their home countries. The U.S. Government and the governments of Central America are working together to address the growing concerns of crime and insecurity that affect the region. Increasingly, this is another of the "push" factors that leads to undocumented and illegal migration. Just last week, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon traveled to Guatemala to participate in a Vice-Ministerial meeting with representatives from all seven Central American countries about our shared concerns on gangs, narcotics trafficking, and arms trafficking. On July 18, Assistant Secretary Shannon announced the Strategy to Combat Criminal Gangs from Central America and Mexico. Under this comprehensive strategy, the United States will work with partner countries to combat gangs that commit crimes in Central America, Mexico, and the United States through both prevention and enforcement. It will help prevent youth from entering gangs and strengthen the fight against gang-related violence and other crimes.
The strategy to combat criminal gangs from Central America and Mexico will increase communication and information sharing at all levels of government and between governments. Implementing this strategy will involve numerous U.S. agencies, including the Department of State, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Agency for International Development as well as partner governments in the region. Implementing this strategy will further enhance U.S. interagency and international cooperation, increase coordination, and systematically improve linkages between foreign governments and U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
Deportees frequently are accused of being responsible for crime in their home countries, but we do not believe these accusations are supported by the facts. While it is clear that deportees play a major role in the gang culture in Central America, it is less clear whether they are responsible for increases in crime rates.
According to DHS 2005 deportation figures, of all the aliens deported for criminal activity, the percentage deported for violent crimes is actually very low. Of those deported in 2005, over 50 percent were convicted for drug and immigration offenses. Of those with drug convictions (37 percent of the total criminal deportees), approximately half were possession charges, not sales. Approximately ten percent of criminal deportees were charged with assault, including convictions ranging from domestic violence to resisting arrest. Four percent had burglary convictions while three percent had larceny convictions. Murder did not make the top 10 list of offenses committed by those deported for criminal activity in 2005.
Mexico
With regard to Mexico, we work very closely with the Calderon Administration on a variety of security and law enforcement matters including deportation. We were pleased that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on July 9 that the governments of Mexico and the United States have resumed the Interior Repatriation Program this summer and the program will last until September 30. This voluntary program ensures the safe, effective and humanitarian return of those Mexican nationals apprehended along the border to their places of origin in the interior of Mexico.
Caribbean
Deportation is also a key issue for countries in the Caribbean. At the June 18-21 Conference on the Caribbean held in Washington, DC, leaders of the CARICOM countries raised the topic of deportation in their meetings with both President Bush and Secretary Rice. One of their consistent concerns is the need to receive more information on deportees, including more detailed criminal records.
In response, ICE offered to provide to CARICOM members the computer hardware and software of the eTD system which has already been shown to be successful in Central America. With the support of the Department of State, DHS has begun to brief individual governments on the system. We hope to have the first agreement in place to implement the system in a CARICOM nation within the next two months.
CARICOM also has requested our assistance with resettlement and reintegration. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) funds a $1 million International Organization for Migration (IOM) project in Haiti to provide deportee reintegration services, including counseling, vocational training, skills development, and micro-credit lending. We hope to use this program as a model for reintegration programs in other CARICOM countries in the future. We are currently in discussions with CARICOM members on the next steps and what adaptations may be needed to the model program so that it is useful to other nations.
I would be happy to answer any of your questions.
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