Criminal Aliens

INS' Detention and Deportation Activities in the New York City Area Gao ID: GGD-87-19BR December 3, 1986

In response to a congressional request, GAO obtained information about the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) activities in: (1) apprehending and deporting criminal aliens in the New York City area; and (2) preventing them from reentering the United States.

GAO found that: (1) security at the INS service processing center (SPC) was inadequate; (2) although INS intended SPC to house a noncriminal population, it housed an increasing proportion of aliens with criminal backgrounds; (3) although INS expected to house the average detainee for 7 days, it housed many for more than 6 months; (4) SPC design and operational deficiencies detracted from a safe, secure, and orderly environment, making it difficult for INS to prevent escapes and control disruptive behavior; and (5) the SPC detention area stored firearms and ammunition in violation of INS and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) standards. Although the INS New York District Office (NYDO) has begun to hold hearings in state prisons, it has not yet: (1) established the alien status and deportability of all prisoner-aliens before they become eligible for parole; and (2) selected only appropriate criminal aliens for the expedited deportation process.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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