A study conducted by Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Sheriff in Arizona, concluded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may not be successfully deporting a significant percentage of arrested illegal immigrants. ICE initially requested that Maricopa County carry out the study, which analyzed the location of 1,300 illegal immigrants after exiting jail and being put in ICE’s custody for processing and deportation.
According to local news outlet KTAR, Arpaio found that 31 percent of the released immigrants ended back in U.S. jails after being processed for deportation.
Arpaio said of the results, “There are only two explanations. Either they’re out the back door [and] on the streets, with no action taken. They haven’t been deported, most of them. Or they have been deported, and they keep coming across the border.”
Last year on Fox News, Arpaio accused the Obama Administration of releasing misleading deportation numbers, which he called “smoke and mirrors.” Arpaio claimed that he sees the same illegal immigrants in his jail “six, seven, eight times. [They] keep coming back! How come they’re not being deported? That’s where they should be, they’re high-level violators… I always had a feeling that a lot of these people that we put on hold — turn over to ICE — really were not being deported.”
Still, Arpaio said he will not give up the fight against immigration in his role as a sheriff, according to local reports.
Zack Taylor, Chairman of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO), told Breitbart Texas that America becomes endangered when illegal immigrants come back into the country after being deported.
“Transnational criminals are going to operate wherever they can,” Taylor said. “There are probably 1,000 U.S. cities with cartels already embedded in them.”
Taylor added the only way to keep out dangerous illegal immigrants is to secure American borders.
“If they weren’t here, they couldn’t commit crimes,” he said. Taylor also pointed out that criticism emanating from left-leaning media outlets makes it increasingly difficult for Border Patrol agents to effectively carry out their duties.
As Breitbart Texas reported in March, NAFBPO released a statement arguing, “This media campaign is an intentional weakening of America’s defenses through political deception. Those supporting this campaign are working to destroy America.”
“America is not being told the truth by the media,” Taylor concluded.
Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate
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