On his August 22 show, Newsradio 850 KOA host “Gunny” Bob Newman misrepresented Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) statistics for June to assert that the 1,002 inmates for whom U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued a “detainer” are all illegal aliens. In fact, as the DOC indicated in a July 13 statistical bulletin, ICE issues detainer orders for foreign-born “inmates that meet their deportation criteria” -- a group that, as The Greeley Tribune noted, can also include “legal, permanent residents.”

Newman had been discussing a plan proposed by Colorado state Sen. Abel Tapia (D-Pueblo) and state Rep. Marsha Looper (R-Calhan) to facilitate the availability of immigrant guest workers for Colorado farms and other employers.

From the August 22 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show:

NEWMAN: In June of this year there were 22,728 criminals incarcerated by the Colorado Department of Corrections -- including fifteen hundred and ninety-three foreign-born convicts, of which 1,002 had Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- ICE -- detainers placed on them. That works out to 62 percent of foreign-born convicts in our state pens being illegal aliens. Now do the math. According to the Colorado Department of Prisons, it costs $77 per day per inmate in Colorado for us to house and feed and take care of their medical needs. That's $44,771,265 per year to care for all of our state's foreign-born convicts and $28,161,210 per year just for the illegal alien convicts to be cared for. How many of our schools and other high-risk, primary terrorist targets could have their security upgraded with that kind of cash? How many homeless could we feed and house? How many wounded Colorado veterans could receive better care? How many elderly could receive better care if that money -- or a large portion of it -- were being directed toward them, instead of toward aliens in our state prisons?

Contrary to Newman's claim, the 1,002 foreign-born inmates for whom ICE has issued a detainer are not necessarily all illegal aliens, and Newman provided no substantiation that they were. In explaining the statistics presented in the July 13 bulletin, the DOC indicated that “I.C.E. places an active detainer for those inmates that meet their deportation criteria”:

Inmates are evaluated at the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center and foreign-born inmates are identified for further screening at a later date if there is indication that an inmate may meet deportation criteria. The U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) is contacted when these inmates get close to community or parole eligibility or have a scheduled release date approaching. I.C.E. places an active detainer for those inmates that meet their deportation criteria and the inmates are transferred to their custody upon release from prison. [emphasis added]

As the Congressional Research Service noted in an April 2006 analysis of U.S. immigration law, the Immigration and Naturalization Act identifies “the six broad classes of deportable aliens” as including those who:

• are inadmissible at time of entry or violate their immigration status;
• commit certain criminal offenses (e.g., crimes of moral turpitude, aggravated felonies, alien smuggling, high speed flight);
• fail to register (if required under law) or commit document fraud;
• are security risks (such as aliens who violate any law relating to espionage, engage in criminal activity which endangers public safety, partake in terrorist activities, or assisted in Nazi persecution or genocide);
• become a public charge within five years of entry; or
• vote unlawfully.

Of the six classes of deportable aliens, only the first characterizes individuals whose very presence in the United States -- aside from any aggravating factor -- is unlawful.

Moreover, in a December 13, 2006, article headlined “What is ICE?” the Tribune noted that "[a]n ICE hold can be placed on legal, permanent residents as well as illegal immigrants for certain crimes":

WHAT IS AN ICE DETAINER?

An ICE detainer is when ICE flags an illegal immigrant in custody of another law enforcement agency because they have probable cause to believe an immigration law has been violated.

When the person finishes his or her sentence, ICE agents pick him or her up to begin deportation proceedings.

An ICE hold can be placed on legal, permanent residents as well as illegal immigrants for certain crimes. [emphasis added]