Mexican Nationals Far More Likely To Be Sent To Detention Centers Than People From Other Countries: Report

Mexican nationals caught trying to enter the U.S. were far more likely to end up being held in detention than people from other countries, data shows.

When a person is caught by ICE agents have the choice of holding the person in a detention center or releasing the person while immigration court proceedings take place.

According to data from TRAC, ICE held 30 percent of those apprehended in detention. However, the rate for Mexican nationals was 57 percent. At the other end of the spectrum was the Philippines. TRAC reported that there were 171 cases involving Philippine nationals, and of those, only nine ended up in detention, a rate of just 5 percent. Nigeria had the lowest rate at just three percent.

TRAC, short for Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, is a data gathering, data research, and data distribution organization that was founded in 1989 at Syracuse University.

The report found that out of 7,599 cases, 4,326 ended up being held in detention.

"Little is actually known about the factors driving these custody decisions. ICE officers have wide discretion in making this decision and the criteria a given officer applies is rarely disclosed," TRAC stated in its report. "Observations that have been shared suggest that the decision differs for ostensibly similar noncitizens depending largely on the identity of the particular ICE officer making this decision."

The report notes that the numbers for Mexican nationals statistically standout when compared to other countries.

"Mexico had such a large number of cases with more than half who remained detained that it dominated custody patterns. This meant that after Mexico, only a few countries had custody rates above the national average and for these countries, rates were just barely above the national average," the report states. "After Mexico, Guatemala was next highest with a custody rate of 34 percent followed by El Salvador with 32 percent, and Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic with 31 percent."