TABLE 1


Activities
INS district office INS region IHP focus
La Tuna, NM (BOP) Oakdale, LA (BOP) CA FL NY TX
El Paso Central X
Houston Central X
Los Angeles Western X
Miami Eastern X
New Orleans Central X
New York Eastern X
San Diego Western X
San Francisco Western X

Legend: X—Visited by GAO.

Source: GAO.

















TABLE 2


Time from release to deportation IHP completed in prison Hearings started in prison, completed after release Hearings started and completed after prison release
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
< 1 month 3,088 91 2,497 68 132 24
1 mo. to < 2 mos. 130 4 608 17 53 10
2 mos. to < 4 mos. 78 2 296 8 56 10
4 mos. to < 6 mos. 24 *2 105 3 46 8
6 mos. to < 8 mos. 18 *2 48 1 36 7
8 mos. to < 10 mos. 10 *2 33 *2 43 8
10 mos. to < 12 mos. 14 *2 31 *2 39 7
12 mos. and over 33 *2 55 1 145 26
Total 3,3953 100 3,6733 100 5503 100

1The five states are Arizona, California, Florida, New York, and Texas.

2Less than 1 percent.

3Of criminal aliens released from prisons in 5 states and BOP from April through September 1995, 4,582 had completed the IHP with a final deportation order (see app. IV); and 3,395 of them (74 percent) were deported by January 1997. Of 4,540 released criminal aliens who completed deportation proceedings after their release from prison, 4,223, or 93 percent, were deported by January 1997. Although INS has reported difficulty obtaining travel documents to some countries, we did not determine the specific reasons that aliens with final deportation orders were not removed quickly.

















TABLE 3


Hearing process Criminal aliens released to INS from prison without final deportation orders (N = 20,118)
Started before prison release Started after prison release
Estimated number of criminal aliens 17,498 2,620
Average avoidable days in detention1 26 191
Average daily detention cost $65.75 $65.75
Fiscal year detention cost2 $29,912,831 $32,902,615
Total avoidable fiscal year detention cost $62,815,446

1aAvoidable days = average number of days in detention beyond those spent by criminal aliens who had a final order when released.

2Avoidable detention cost = number of aliens X average net days in detention X average daily detention cost.