SEATTLE — After digging through hundreds of ZIP codes, KIRO 7 found 11 convicted sex offenders in the country illegally living across western Washington neighborhoods. The government has tried to deport most of these people, but a Supreme Court ruling requires they be released after six months in jail, if their home country won't take them back.
KIRO 7 obtained sources through the Senate Judiciary Committee: a list of every ZIP code in the country that some offender called home at the time of release.
In the Seattle area, sex offenders who are undocumented were dropped off from Tacoma to Bellingham.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they can't and don't track where the offenders are after they're released into neighborhoods, documents show.
Mark Krikorian from the Center of Immigration Studies says the government can do more. He wants the State Department to deny visas to countries that won't accept deportations.