0814 mosierpftexas

Emails, Douglas T. Mosier, public affairs officer, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, El Paso, Aug. 13 and 29, 2014

From: MOSIER, DOUGLAS T

Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 11:17 AM

To: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)

Subject: FW: Inquiry for a fact check

Gardner, okay--this will be tough to draw an accurate comparison between the numbers I gave you versus those provided by the Lt. Governor’s office; it is apples and oranges for a lot of reasons.

First, the Gov. office is talking about FY ‘13--- not FY ‘14, so the comparison is already skewed as it relates to the Border Patrol (USBP) numbers I gave you.

Next, his numbers are based on ICE figures, and ICE “removals” are separate and apart from Border Patrol apprehensions, and even repatriations. It is almost impossible to quantify ICE vs USBP numbers being that there are so many processes that can take place when a subject is apprehended at the border. Secondly, it is rare for ICE to apprehend people at the border; that mainly occurs in the interior. What ICE removes will not fully represent illegal immigrants that USBP might process and repatriate on it’s own (in the case of Mexico, for example). Even though ICE deports them, it doesn’t mean that Border Patrol necessarily caught them; and just because they were deported/removed that year, does not mean that they entered that year. (Many of those persons that ICE removes are subjects that have either completed sentences in prisons or have exhausted their immigration benefits/hearings/processes, which can take some time).

Remember too that the categories of “crime” vary, and that alone can have some sway in the numbers for both ICE and Border Patrol. You would really have to contact his office and research how they define crimes in their research.

From the numbers we (USBP) gave you, all you would be able to show would be the current percentage of criminal aliens that Border Patrol apprehended so far this year as compared to total apprehensions nationally, and on the SW Border.

Doug

Aug. 13, 2014

12:12 p.m.

FY ‘13 apprehensions of illegal immigrants by USBP Agents

Total: 420, 789

SW Border: 414,397

Northern border: 3,230

Coastal: 3,162

FY’13 Criminal Aliens apprehended by USBP Agents

Total: 15,875

SW Border: 15,466

Northern Border: 175

Coastal: 234

Here is the answer to your other query:

Every undocumented immigrant in custody of the U.S. Border Patrol is thoroughly screened for immigration history and criminal background through various data systems. This includes an integrated and automated fingerprint identification system known as “IAFIS”. This technology is highly beneficial in allowing records queries to be run through an advanced biometric computer data system.

Doug

From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)

Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2014 11:16 AM

To: 'MOSIER, DOUGLAS T'

Subject: Query about criminal convictions in other countries

...Does the Border Patrol check on the home-country criminal histories of people apprehended near the border? If so, what share of apprehended individuals in fiscal 2013 and to date in f14 had a home-country conviction? If not, why not?

Thank you again.

From: MOSIER, DOUGLAS T

Sent: Friday, August 29, 2014 6:40 AM

To: 'Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)'

Subject: RE: Query about criminal convictions in other countries

Gardner, you are right-- apparently it is not.

I must say I had never gotten that question before, otherwise I would have told you upfront. Our folks went looking everywhere, including outside intel sources like INTERPOL.

Sorry for the wait with no yield, but it took some time. Please know the volume of media requests for statistical data is thick, and we’re doing the best we can.

Doug

---------------------

To answer the below question, no we are not able to provide the share of individuals with home-country convictions as that information is not captured in our processing application.

U.S. Border Patrol/Operations Office

Statistics and Data Integrity Unit

U.S. Border Patrol

8:22 a.m.

Here is the answer to your other query:

----- Original Message -----

From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)

Sent: Friday, August 29, 2014 07:49 AM

To: MOSIER, DOUGLAS T

Subject: RE: Query about criminal convictions in other countries

Thank you so much. The screening you describe in this latest email only picks up U.S. violations, yes?

9:32 a.m.

IAFIS captures ALL criminal data that is submitted into the National Crime Information Center, or other systems that may be incorporated into the system to include immigration and administrative.

It does not track international criminal history unless it is specifically placed into the system. (i.e. Interpol.)