{ "id": "R42057", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R42057", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 423595, "date": "2013-08-27", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T23:17:47.931428", "title": "Interior Immigration Enforcement: Programs Targeting Criminal Aliens", "summary": "Congress has a long-standing interest in seeing that immigration enforcement agencies identify and deport criminal aliens. The expeditious removal of such aliens has been a statutory priority since 1986, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its predecessor agency have operated programs targeting criminal aliens since 1988. These programs have grown substantially since FY2005, and deportations of criminal aliens\u2014along with other unauthorized immigrants\u2014have grown proportionally. \nDespite the interest in criminal aliens, inconsistencies in data quality, data collection, and definitions make it impossible to precisely enumerate the criminal alien population, defined in this report as all noncitizens ever convicted of a crime. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimates the number of noncitizens incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails\u2014a subset of all criminal aliens\u2014at 183,830 in 2011 (the most recent year for which complete data are available), with state prisons and local jails each accounting for somewhat more incarcerations than federal prisons. The overall proportion of noncitizens in prisons and jails corresponds closely to the proportion of noncitizens in the total U.S. population.\nDHS\u2019s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates four programs designed in part to target criminal aliens: the Criminal Alien Program (CAP), Secure Communities, the \u00a7287(g) program, and the National Fugitive Operations Program (NFOP). CAP, Secure Communities, and the \u00a7287(g) programs are jail enforcement programs that screen individuals for immigration-related violations as they are being booked into jail and while they are incarcerated; the NFOP is a task force program that target at-large criminal aliens. This report describes how these programs work and identifies their common features and key differences among them. \nWhile consensus exists on the overarching goal of identifying and removing serious criminal aliens, these programs have generated controversy, in part because many of the aliens identified by ICE have never been convicted of a crime, or have been convicted only of minor criminal offenses. Thus, the programs focus attention on questions about when\u2014if ever\u2014DHS should exercise \u201cprosecutorial discretion\u201d by not asserting its full enforcement authority in certain cases. ICE and DHS officials have testified that resource constraints mean that the department can deport only about 400,000 aliens per year\u2014far fewer than the total number of potentially removable aliens identified. Officials have released a series of memoranda describing criteria to prioritize certain aliens for removal, and to consider exercising discretion in other cases. Some Members of Congress have objected to the Obama Administration\u2019s exercise of discretion, and some have proposed legislation that effectively would limit such discretion.\nA second set of questions concerns the role of state and local law enforcement agencies in immigration enforcement. Supporters of jail enforcement programs, including the Obama Administration, see them as efficient and even-handed ways to identify criminal aliens. The Administration has particularly focused on Secure Communities, which was deployed in every law enforcement jurisdiction in the country in FY2013. Yet some have raised concerns that jail enforcement programs are not narrowly targeted at serious criminal offenders. Critics also argue that involving state and local law enforcement agencies in immigration enforcement may damage police-community relations, may result in racial profiling, and may result in the wrongful detention of people who have not been convicted of criminal offenses and may not be subject to removal. Although ICE and DHS have taken steps to address both sets of questions, they remain topics of legislative interest in the 113th Congress.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42057", "sha1": "b5e78d754d3028a61dd9896a515db5f9f5375426", "filename": "files/20130827_R42057_b5e78d754d3028a61dd9896a515db5f9f5375426.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42057", "sha1": "5acf4cf13604c53bf05f26b92b1c71d6c88162c2", "filename": "files/20130827_R42057_5acf4cf13604c53bf05f26b92b1c71d6c88162c2.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462963/", "id": "R42057_2012Dec20", "date": "2012-12-20", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "Interior Immigration Enforcement: Programs Targeting Criminal Aliens", "summary": "This report begins by defining and quantifying the criminal alien population, to the extent possible. The following sections describe current and historical programs designed in whole or in part to target this population, including the Criminal Alien Program (CAP), Secure Communities, the \u00a7287(g) program, and the National Fugitive Operations Program (NFOP). After describing how these programs function and key differences among them, the report reviews their recent appropriations history and enforcement statistics.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20121220_R42057_1158c09f5323352983415a3bf2180e0eefc25bdf.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20121220_R42057_1158c09f5323352983415a3bf2180e0eefc25bdf.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration", "name": "Immigration" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Aliens", "name": "Aliens" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Criminal aliens", "name": "Criminal aliens" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Illegal aliens", "name": "Illegal aliens" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc83991/", "id": "R42057_2011Oct21", "date": "2011-10-21", "retrieved": "2012-04-27T15:49:45", "title": "Interior Immigration Enforcement: Programs Targeting Criminal Aliens", "summary": "This report begins by defining and quantifying the criminal alien population, to the extent possible. The following sections describe current and historical programs designed in whole or in part to target this population, including CAP, Secure Communities, the \u00a7 287(g) program, and NFOP. After describing how these programs function and key differences among them, the report reviews their recent appropriations history and enforcement statistics.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20111021_R42057_e3d28af978dc3c8343fdc7b592b990f89e590247.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20111021_R42057_e3d28af978dc3c8343fdc7b592b990f89e590247.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration", "name": "Immigration" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Aliens", "name": "Aliens" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Criminal aliens", "name": "Criminal aliens" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Illegal aliens", "name": "Illegal aliens" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Immigration Policy" ] }