by Linda Straker
- 297 deportees to OECS member territories between 2019 and 2024
- 40 Grenadian deportees from USA between 2019 and 2024
- Deportees are mix of criminal and civil offenders
Between 2019 and 2024, the USA deported 40 Grenadians to Grenada, according to data in the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report. This report details the agency’s accomplishments over the past year and highlights how each directorate and program office fulfilled its congressionally mandated mission.
For 2024, the report which covers up to September, shows that Grenada received 5. There is no breakdown of the deportees by age or sex, but data from the same report shows that fewer people were deported in 2024 compared to 2023. The report shows that in 2023 the deportees — which is a mix of criminal and civil offenders — numbered 8. For previous years, there were 5 deportees in 2022, three in 2021, six in 2020 and 13 in 2019. The total number of deportees to Grenada over that period is 40.
The number of deportees to OECS member territories for the same period was 297.
The report, released on 19 December, stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) “protects the homeland by arresting and removing non-citizens who undermine the safety of US communities and the integrity of US immigration laws.”
Its primary focus areas are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and removal efforts.
The report stated that “ERO identifies non-citizens considered to be removable from the United States through a range of law enforcement and intelligence techniques. As part of these efforts, ERO’s Targeting Operations centres — the National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Centre, the Law Enforcement Support Center and the Pacific Enforcement Response Centre — deliver real-time leads and referrals to ERO’s 25 field offices to increase the operational efficiency of its targeted enforcement actions.”
The report further explained that “once ERO identifies and locates a non-citizen who is considered a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enforcement priority, ERO investigates the non-citizen’s case to determine removability.”
According to the report, of the 113,431 non-citizens arrested in fiscal year (FY) 2024, 71.7% were convicted criminals or had pending criminal charges at the time of arrest.
