	INS Still Failed to Identify All Deportable Criminal Aliens, Including Aggravated Felons

As was the case when we reported to this Subcommittee in July 1997, we again found that INS had not identified all potentially deportable imprisoned criminal aliens. This is important because federal law requires INS to initiate removal proceedings for aggravated felons while they are incarcerated and, to the extent possible, complete deportation proceedings for these felons before their release from prison. According to the INS and EOIR databases, none of the 1,903 potentially deportable criminal aliens had been in removal proceedings while they were in prison or afterward, had been taken into INS custody, or had been deported. We asked LESC to provide us with information on the nature of the crimes for which the 80 criminal aliens were rearrested. INS Did Not Complete the IHP For About Half of the Released Criminal Aliens, Incurring Millions in Avoidable Detention Costs

Our analysis of data from the first 6 months of 1997 revealed that 12,495 released inmates were, according to INS and EOIR databases, potentially deportable. We found that about 45 percent of these inmates were released from prison with a final deportation order (having completed the IHP), about 3 percent were released from prison without a deportation order but with INS’ having completed the removal hearing process, and about 36 percent were released from prison before INS completed the process. Not completing removal proceedings during incarceration means that INS has to use its limited detention space to house released criminal aliens rather than using the space to detain other aliens. INS Has Not Fully Implemented Our Recommendations

At the 1997 hearing, the Chairman urged INS to fully implement GAO’s recommendations for improving the IHP. In 1997, we recommended that the Commissioner of INS give priority to aliens serving time for aggravated felonies by establishing controls to ensure that these aliens (1) are identified from among the universe of foreign-born inmates provided by BOP and the states, (2) are placed into removal proceedings while in prison, and (3) are taken into custody upon their release. INS had not resolved the problem of high attrition among immigration agents, who are considered the backbone of the IHP. Conclusions

Despite its assertions at last year’s hearing, INS generally showed limited improvement in its IHP performance based on our analysis of INS’ 1997 program performance. This, coupled with INS’ slow response to our recommendations, suggests that INS still does not know whether it has identified all potentially deportable criminal aliens in the BOP and state prison systems. The first copy of each GAO report and testimony is free.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) efforts to initiate and complete removal proceedings for criminal aliens in state and federal prisons through its Institutional Hearing Program (IHP).

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) the IHP is a cooperative program involving the INS, the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), and federal and state correctional agencies; (2) it was formally established in 1988 to enable INS and EOIR to complete removal proceedings for criminal aliens while they were still serving their sentences, thus eliminating the need for INS agents to locate aliens after their release, and freeing up INS detention space for other cases; (3) with the proceedings complete, expeditious removal of criminal aliens upon completion of their sentences can occur; (4) federal law requires the Attorney General to initiate and, to the extent possible, complete removal proceedings for aggravated felons before their release from incarceration; (5) INS has been delegated the authority to enforce immigration laws; (6) in 1997, GAO reported that INS needed to improve its efforts to identify potentially deportable criminal aliens in federal and state prisons and complete the IHP for the aliens before they were released; (7) this conclusion is based on GAO's analysis of data provided by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and five states on foreign-born inmates who were released from prison between April and September, 1995; (8) INS' Executive Associate Commissioner for Programs told the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration and claims that INS had improved program operations since 1995; (9) in response, the Subcommittee asked GAO to review program performance during 1997; (10) although GAO's results indicated that INS' performance had shown some improvement, GAO continues to have the same concerns about the IHP; (11) in 1997, INS still had not identified many potentially deportable aliens while they were in prison; (12) the majority of these released criminal aliens were aggravated felons, some of whom were reconvicted for new felonies; (13) INS completed the IHP for about half of the released criminal aliens it identified as potentially deportable while they were in prison; (14) because INS had to detain aliens who did not complete the hearing process in prison, INS incurred approximately $40 million in avoidable detention costs; and (15) in addition, INS had not fully implemented the recommendations GAO made in the 1997 report to improve the IHP.