Deportations fall in Minnesota: fewer criminals, zero terrorists in 2011

The folks at TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University) are out with a new state-by-state breakdown of deportation proceedings in the Immigration Courts.

You can see a nifty graph of deportations in Minnesota since 1992 (388 people), which increased almost 10-fold in 2009 to 3709. Numbers have fallen off slightly since then.

The national picture shows the increase in deportations since 9/11, although those brought up on terrorism or national security charges -- always a small number -- have fallen.

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"But a comparison of the kinds of deportation proceedings in both the pre-and-post 9/11 periods documents that the actual numbers of those aimed at criminals, national security threats and terrorists have all declined rather than increased. On the other hand, the total number of those charged with purely immigration violations has sharply increased -- 1.2 million before the attacks, 1.9 million after."

The data also show "the number of deportation proceedings initiated against individuals charged with criminal activity has dropped by 22 percent during the last 12 months."

The Obama administration's stated goal has been to focus on deporting criminals.

According to this data, Minnesota brought deportation proceedings against 1 person on terrorism or national security charges in 2010 (from the Phillippines), but most years there were zero. 2001 was the high point, with two: one from Liberia and one from Somalia.