I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4054

To provide for Federal incarceration of undocumented criminal aliens.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 16, 1994

Mr. BECERRA (for himself, Mr. BEILENSON, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MARTINEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. TORRES,

Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. FAZIO, Mr. DIXON, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ,

Mr. PASTOR, and Mr. INSLEE) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for Federal incarceration of undocumented

criminal aliens.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FEDERAL INCARCERATION OF UNDOCU4 MENTED CRIMINAL ALIENS.

5 (a) FEDERAL INCARCERATION.—Section 242 of the

6 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1252) is

7 amended by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(j) FEDERAL INCARCERATION.—
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1 ‘‘(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Attorney

2 General shall take into the custody of the Federal

3 Government, and shall incarcerate for a determinate

4 sentence of imprisonment, an undocumented crimi5 nal alien if—

6 ‘‘(A) the chief official of the State (or, if

7 appropriate, a political subdivision of the State)

8 exercising authority with respect to the incar9 ceration of the undocumented criminal alien

10 submits a written request to the Attorney Gen11 eral; and

12 ‘‘(B) the undocumented criminal alien is

13 sentenced to a determinate term of imprison14 ment.

15 ‘‘(2)(A) If the Attorney General determines

16 that adequate Federal facilities are not available for

17 the incarceration of an undocumented criminal alien

18 under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall

19 enter into a contractual arrangement which provides

20 for compensation to the State or a political subdivi21 sion of the State, as may be appropriate, with re22 spect to the incarceration of such undocumented

23 criminal alien for such determinate sentence of im24 prisonment.
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1 ‘‘(B) Compensation under subparagraph (A)

2 shall be determined by the Attorney General and

3 may not exceed the median cost of incarceration of

4 a prisoner in all maximum security facilities in the

5 United States as determined by the Bureau of Jus6 tice Statistics.

7 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term

8 ‘undocumented criminal alien’ means an alien who—

9 ‘‘(A) has been convicted of a felony and

10 sentenced to a term of imprisonment, and

11 ‘‘(B)(i) entered the United States without

12 inspection or at any time or place other than as

13 designated by the Attorney General,

14 ‘‘(ii) was the subject of exclusion or depor15 tation proceedings at the time he or she was

16 taken into custody by the State or a political

17 subdivision of the State, or

18 ‘‘(iii) was admitted as a nonimmigrant and

19 at the time he or she was taken into custody by

20 the State or a political subdivision of the State

21 has failed to maintain the nonimmigrant status

22 in which the alien was admitted or to which it

23 was changed under section 248, or to comply

24 with the conditions of any such status.’’.
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1 ‘‘(4)(A) In carrying out this subsection, the At2 torney General shall give priority to the Federal in3 carceration of undocumented criminal aliens who

4 have committed aggravated felonies.

5 ‘‘(B) The Attorney General shall ensure that

6 undocumented criminal aliens incarcerated in Fed7 eral facilities pursuant to this subsection are held in

8 facilities which provide a level of security appro9 priate to the crimes for which they were convicted.’’.

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

11 this section shall take effect October 1, 1994.

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