Critics say the low number of inmates show that the courts aren’t working.

By SARITA CHOUREY
MORRIS NEWS SERVICE

COLUMBIA -- When 20-year-old Juan Rodriguez, a suspected illegal Mexican immigrant, hit 17-year-old Josh George as the teen drove home from prom last month, emotions boiled in Beaufort County.

The Bluffton High School junior died of his injuries days later. Rodriguez was charged with driving without a license, operating a vehicle while uninsured, disregarding a traffic signal, felony DUI and leaving the scene of an accident when a death occurs.

Rodriguez remains in the Beaufort County Detention Center, waiting for a trial date with bond set at $750,000.

Some Beaufort County residents said it was typical: Illegal aliens are more likely to commit crimes because their very presence here sets the tone for subsequent offenses.

But state inmate data portrays a different reality.

Illegal, incarcerated

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington-based nonprofit group advocating for restrictions on immigration, estimated South Carolina had 76,000 illegal aliens in 2005. This year, there are 369 illegal aliens in S.C. prisons, making up a relatively small slice of the total prison population of 24,000. That indicates the number of illegal aliens behind bars is roughly proportional to their estimated presence in the state.

If illegal aliens aren’t imprisoned out of proportion to their share of the rest of the state population, why do people think they commit more than their share of crimes?

The media and popular biases can skew the public’s view of crimes committed by immigrants, said Lee McElveen, Hispanic/Latino coordinator for the S.C. Commission on Minority Affairs, a state agency.

“When something negative happened in an immigrant community or to an immigrant, then this came to the media’s immediate attention because immigration was the hot topic at hand,” she said. “It puts a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.”

Overcrowded jail

Beaufort County’s Detention Center, built for 225 inmates, has been operating over capacity for the past year and Sheriff P.J. Tanner has said 35 to 40 percent of the daily inmate population is individuals in the country illegally.

Tanner and county officials tried to get the detention center qualified for federal Homeland Security programs to help with the housing of illegal aliens but have redirected their efforts to develop a local regional detention center for aliens.

The Beaufort County Council also included money in this year’s budget to begin a study for a new or expanded detention center.

Red flags

The General Assembly passed landmark legislation this year to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants. During the debate, Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, pointed to a car accident in Horry County in 2006 in which two teens, both here illegally, pleaded guilty to striking and killing a woman while racing their cars.
Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, also sees a correlation between illegal entry into the country and other crimes.

“All you have to do is look at the police blotter in the paper every day,” he said. “It’ll give you a sense of the increase in crime and who's committing the crimes.”

He said there are several red flags: “When (suspects) don’t have a driver’s license, and you read they have no insurance or a fake driver’s license or they give three different names, or they’re having a hard time communicating … maybe they might be illegal.”

But the lawmaker added, “That’s not saying all of them are.”

Herbkersman said the number of illegal aliens in state prison might be higher if it were easier for law enforcement and the legal system to apprehend and prosecute them.

“If they don’t show up for trial, where are you going to go to find them?” he said. “And if they’re let go, you’ll never see them again.”

When crime suspects thought to be illegal aliens are released on bond awaiting trial, they are not automatically deported.

Suspects are entitled to due process in the legal system, said Barbara Gonzalez, spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, noting that they must first go before an immigration judge and receive an order of deportation.

“We are enforcing immigration law irrespective of criminal background,” said Gonzalez, adding that those who are convicted of the worst offenses get guaranteed attention from ICE once they’ve completed their sentence. “And we are prioritizing those that are committing heinous crimes.”

Incarceration costs

The cost to house an inmate is about $14,000 per year, according to S.C. Department of Corrections spokesman Josh Gelinas. With 369 illegal aliens in the state prison system, the cost to taxpayers is $5.1 million. Corrections data show the number of illegal aliens has more than doubled from 171 in 2003 to 369 recorded so far this year.
Source: S.C. Department of Corrections

Inmate numbers

Of 369 inmates identified as illegal immigrants, 248, or 67 percent, were from Mexico, including four women. The other top countries of origin include:
-Honduras: 20.
-Guatemala: 14.
-Jamaica: 14.
-Cuba: 10.
-El Salvador: 7.
-China: 5.
-Haiti: 5.
Source: S.C. Department of Corrections

Verification

Inmates pass through layers of verification methods to determine their immigration status, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Josh Gelinas. Checks include:
- Asking all inmates their country of origin. If they say they were born outside the United States, officials alert the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- Officials also notify ICE if an inmate does not have a social security number, cannot speak English, or if a background check with the National Crime Information Center indicates the inmate is not a U.S. citizen.
- If the inmate is found to be here illegally, ICE takes custody once the prisoner completes his sentence.
Source: S.C. Department of Corrections