After serving a prison sentence spanning a quarter of a century for murder, Phillip Harkins, a Scottish national, has been detained by ICE with intentions to remove him to his home country post-haste. Harkins, labelled a criminal illegal alien by the immigration agency, was housed at the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny, Florida, following his release from the Florida Department of Corrections on August 18, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported.
The man's history with the law is not short. His first notable encounter with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office dates back to 1996, when they arrested him for possession of a weapon and carrying a concealed firearm—convictions that came a year later. Fast forward to February 2000, Harkins was back in the clutches of the law for a far graver charge: homicide. He managed to post bond but decided to abruptly leave the States, fleeing back to Scotland, consequently evading the charges that loomed over him in Florida.
Nonetheless, the arms of justice have a long reach, and after a protracted legal duel on extradition, the U.S. succeeded in bringing Harkins back to face his accused crimes. As a result, in 2018 he was convicted of murder and first-degree armed robbery, receiving a 25-year sentence offset by the time he already served overseas. An immigration judge had previously ordered his removal in August 2002, a directive ICE is now looking to enforce.
ICE’s decision to detain and deport Harkins underscores the agency’s policy of quickly removing non-U.S. citizens with serious criminal convictions after their release from prison. Harkins is now awaiting deportation, ending a criminal history in the U.S. that stretches back nearly 30 years.
