Texas immigration arrest/detention data

While Arizona has litigated the question of whether local law enforcement can enforce immigration laws, peace officers in Texas have been quietly doing it. On an extensive DPS web-page titled "Mexican Drug Cartel Activity," under the heading "IA Referrals," the agency noted that, "Since 2006, 61,012 illegal aliens have been apprehended and referred to CBP in Texas by local and state law enforcement officers." In addition, "From October 2008 – July 1, 2012, Texas identified a total 120,119 unique criminal alien defendants booked into Texas county jails" under the so-called "Secure Communities" program.

By contrast, illegal immigrants remain underrepresented among TDCJ prisoners compared to the general population. "As of September 15, 2011, 6,508 illegal aliens have been identified in TDCJ units," or roughly 4.2% of the 156,522 prisoners the agency reported holding in its annual statistical report (pdf) as of August 31 of that year. That's far lower than their proportion of the workforce.

Overall, judging from DPS' portrayal, state and local law enforcement's contribution to immigration enforcement remains minimal compared to the volume of arrests by the Border Patrol: "Since 2006, the U.S. Border Patrol has reported 3,951,788 illegal alien apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border, including 1,160,545 apprehensions in the Texas sectors of Big Bend, Del Rio, El Paso, Laredo, and Rio Grande Valley." That total, though, masks a significant, downward trend in "illegal alien apprehensions": In 2005, according to DPS' source document, the Border Patrol arrested 138,696 suspected illegal immigrants in the Texas sectors, compared to 34,103 in 2011.

RELATED: From the SA Express News, "Customs, DPS step up presence on Rio Grande."