The Secret Census of Incarcerated Aliens
Federal agents conduct a quiet, month-long sweep of Washington’s state institutions to identify non-citizens for deportation.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Secret service men who have been ascertaining the number of aliens confined in penal, reformatory, and charitable institutions in the state have completed their work. The work was prosecuted quietly over the past month. At the Walla Walla state penitentiary, there are a total of 154 aliens, but only eight are subject to deportation. At McNeil Island, 27 aliens were found subject to deportation, including three Chinese individuals. Government officials intend to coordinate with state institutions to ensure that upon the expiration of prison terms, alien inmates will be immediately arrested and deported as part of a new system of federal record-keeping.
“As fast as alien convicts are released from the penitentiary they will be deported. In that way many dangerous criminals will be driven out of the country.”
This article highlights the early 20th-century origins of the collaboration between state carceral systems and federal immigration enforcement—a precursor to modern programs like 287(g) that continue to impact immigrant communities in Washington today.
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