Deportation: is it effective?

Research Methods

Issue: The financial impact illegal immigrants have on our criminal justice system.

Everyday questions:

How many illegal immigrants commit crime in the US annually?

What types of crimes are being committed by illegal immigrants?

Are these crimes not considered crimes in their home countries?

Where are these illegal immigrants originating from?

Are their actions crimes of necessity (i.e. stealing to feed their family?)?

What’s the percentage of caught/convicted illegal immigrants from each country?

Is immediate deportation a solution? What about the countries we don’t deport to.

How can we reduce government spending on illegal immigrants?

How much money is spent on the prosecution & detention of illegal immigrants?

How many illegal immigrants commit crimes but are never caught?

How many illegal immigrants are convicted but are never incarcerated?

Variables that can be measured/tested:

Percentages of illegal immigrants convicted v. legal immigrants.

Percentage of illegal immigrants in Immigration Custody Enforcement facilities.

Types of crimes are illegal immigrants being convicted of.

Origin of the majority of criminal illegal immigrants.

Amount of money that is spent on incarcerating of illegal immigrants annually.

Deportation: is it effective?

Reported number of illegal immigrants that re-enter and re-offend.

Research question:

How financially draining is the prosecution, detention, and deportation of illegal immigrants on local economies?

Justification:

During the harsh economic times we currently find ourselves in, governments across the nation are looking for new ways to save money in the long run. Washington State has recently passed a law requiring deportable illegal immigrants to be deported at a much faster rate than was previously occurring. Is this a solution? Is this an area that is costing state governments a large amount of money each year? Will earlier deportation, or even proposed prevention methods stopping illegal immigrants from entering the US, help save money long term?