This is a cooperative program involving the INS, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, and federal and state prison agencies. The IHP's goal is to enable the INS and EOIR to complete removal proceedings for criminal aliens while they are still serving their sentences. This will eliminate the need for agents to locate aliens after they are released and free up beds in INS detention facilities. The new GAO report shows the INS has had mix results in its attempt to implement the IHP program. The GAO analyzed data for 19,639 foreign-born inmates who were released from federal and four state prisons between January 1st and June 30th of last year.
Aggravated felons have fewer rights and are more likely to be deportable.
In the GAO's July 1997 report it recommended that the INS establish a nationwide data system to track foreign-born inmates in state and federal prisons. The INS responded by indicating to Congress that it recognized this need and had begun an effort to establish an automated tracking system. Right now, the INS is testing the system at federal facilities. It then hopes to extend the system to state facilities. According to a November 2nd report in the Washington Post, INS field managers are considering reducing enforcement raids so that personnel and detention space can be set aside for aliens with criminal backgrounds.