August 5, 2007

ICE Fugitive Operations Program

Background

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) established the first Fugitive Operations Teams in 2003 to dramatically expand the agency’s efforts to locate, arrest, and remove fugitives from the United States. An ICE fugitive is defined as an alien who has failed to depart the United States based upon a final order of removal, deportation, or exclusion; or who has failed to report to a Detention and Removal Officer after receiving notice to do so.

ICE’s Fugitive Operations Teams give top priority to cases involving aliens who pose a threat to national security and community safety, including members of transnational street gangs, child sex offenders, and aliens with prior convictions for violent crimes. The Fugitive Operations Team officers and agents utilize intelligence-based information and leads to locate and arrest aliens who have been ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge, but have failed to comply.

The National Fugitive Operations Program (NFOP) is responsible for reducing the fugitive alien population in the United States. ICE’s databases show the targeted enforcement strategy is paying off. In 2007, the nation’s fugitive alien population declined for the first time. As of August 1, 2008, ICE's fugitive case backlog was just over 570,000 fugitive aliens which is approximately 25,000 fewer fugitives than the population recorded on October 1, 2007.

Much of the credit for those results can be attributed to the rapid expansion of the program and the establishment of the Fugitive Operation Support Center (FOSC). When the initiative was launched in 2003, there were eight fugitive operations teams nationwide. ICE met its goal of deploying 75 teams by the end of FY 2007; up from 52 teams at the end of FY 2006. Today, ICE has 92 teams deployed across the country and an additional 12 teams will be added by the end of September.

Fugitive Operations Teams planned deployment:
FY 2008: Birmingham, AL; Columbus, OH; Charleston, SC; Colorado Springs, CO; Des Moines, IA; Dover, DE; Fort Worth, TX; Frederick, MD; Greensboro, NC; Little Rock, AK; Louisville, KY; Lubbock, TX; Miami (2), FL, Newark, NJ; New York City (2), NY; Nashville, TN; San Bernardino, CA; San Diego, CA; San Jose, CA; Springfield, MA; St. Louis, MO; St. Paul, MN; Tulsa, OK; Ventura County, CA; Wichita, KS. Surveillance teams - New York, NY; Newark, NJ.

The deployment of the new teams has resulted in a dramatic increase in overall arrests. As the accompanying chart shows, the number of arrests made by ICE Fugitive Operations Team officers and agents nearly doubled the previous fiscal year, exceeding 30,000 for the first time. In FY08 to date, the teams have arrested 26,945 ICE fugitives, an increase of over 5% as compared to the same time period last fiscal year.

 

ICE established the Fugitive Operations Support Center (FOSC) in June of 2006 in South Burlington, Vermont. The FOSC is a key element in the strategy to address the burgeoning fugitive alien problem in the United States and is a tool the Compliance Enforcement Division uses to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the National Fugitive Operation Program (NFOP).

Through the use of technology, and partnerships with law enforcement agencies, the FOSC provides a specialized unit that focuses on analyzing the nature and characteristics of the U.S. fugitive alien backlog as recorded in the Deportable Alien Control System (DACS). This effort has also aided in reducing the reported number of existing fugitives by reconciling records to eliminate those who have left the country voluntarily, successfully adjusted their status, or were discovered to be incarcerated and therefore no longer fugitives. This accounts for the difference between the estimated decrease in fugitives and the number of reported fugitive arrests.
Since inception (June 2006), through August 1, 2008, the FOSC:

• has resolved over 116,802 fugitive cases in DACS;
• generated/disseminated over 360,000 leads from numerous data sources; and
• Screened/analyzed data associated with over 180 National ICE/DRO enforcement initiatives resulting in thousands of arrests.

ICE’s National Fugitive Operations Program is just one facet of the Department of Homeland Security’s overarching strategy to secure America’s borders and reduce illegal migration.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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