To require the Attorney General to establish a program in local prisons to identify, prior to arraignment, criminal aliens and aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States, and for other purposes.
PL 105-141 (H.R.1493), enacted 12/05/1997

PUBLIC LAW 105-141—DEC. 5, 1997 
111 STAT. 2647 
Public Law 105-141 
105th Congress 
An Act 
To require the Attorney General to establish a program in local prisons to identify, 
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prior to arraignment, criminal aliens and aliens who are unlawfully present 
'.—'-
in the United States, and for other purposes. 
[H.R. 1493] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. PROGRAM OF IDENTIFICATION OF CERTAIN DEPORTABLE 
8 USC 1226 note. 
ALIENS AWAITING ARRAIGNMENT. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 6 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and subject to such 
amounts as are provided in appropriations Acts, the Attorney Gen-
eral shall establish and implement a program to identify, from 
among the individuals who are incarcerated in local governmental 
incarceration facilities prior to arraignment on criminal charges, 
those individuals who are within 1 or more of the following classes 
of deportable aliens: 
(1) Aliens unlawfully present in the United States. 
(2) Aliens described in paragraph (2) or (4) of section 237(a) 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (as redesignated by 
section 305(a)(2) of the Illegal Immigration Reform 
and 
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996). 
(b) DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM.—^The program authorized by 
subsection (a) shall include— 
(1) the detail, to each incarceration facility selected under 
subsection (c), of at least one employee of the Immigration 
and Naturalization Service who has expertise in the identifica-
tion of aliens described in subsection (a); and 
(2) provision of funds sufficient to provide for— 
(A) the detail of such employees to each selected facility 
on a full-time basis, including the portions of the day 
or night when the greatest number of individuals are incar-
cerated prior to arraignment; 
(B) access for such employees to records of the Service 
and other Federal law enforcement agencies that are nec-
essary to identify such aliens; and 
(C) in the case of an individual identified as such 
an alien, pre-arraignment reporting to the court regarding 
the Service's intention to remove the alien from the United 
States. 
(c) SELECTION OF FACILITIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—^The Attorney General shall select for 
participation in the program each incarceration facility that 
satisfies the following requirements: 
I l l STAT. 2648 
PUBLIC LAW 105-141—DEC. 5, 1997 
(A) The facility is owned by the government of a local 
political subdivision described in clause (i) or (ii) of subpara-
graph (C). 
(B) Such government has submitted a request for such 
selection to the Attorney General. 
(C) The facility is located— 
(i) in a county that is determined by the Attorney 
General to have a high concentration of aliens 
described in subsection (a); or 
(ii) in a city, town, or other analogous local political 
subdivision, that is determined by the Attorney Gen-
eral to have a high concentration of such aliens (but 
only in the case of a facility that is not located in 
a county). 
(D) The facility incarcerates or processes individuals 
prior to their arraignment on criminal charges. 
(2) NUMBER OF QUALIFYING SUBDIVISIONS.—For any fiscal 
year, the total number of local political subdivisions determined 
under clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(C) to meet the stand-
ard in such clauses shall be the following: 
(A) For fiscal year 1999, not less than 10 and not 
more than 25. 
(B) For fiscal year 2000, not less than 25 and not 
more than 50. 
(C) For fiscal year 2001, not more than 75. 
(D) For fiscal year 2002, not more than 100. 
(E) For fiscal year 2003 and subsequent fiscal years, 
100, or such other number of political subdivisions as may 
be specified in appropriations Acts. 
(3) FACILITIES IN INTERIOR STATES.—For any fiscal year, 
of the local political subdivisions determined under clauses 
(i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(C) to meet the standard in such 
clauses, not less than 20 percent shall be in States that are 
ii^ot contiguous to a land border. 
\ 
(4) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN FACILITIES.—^All of the incarcer-
ation facilities within the county of Orange, California, and 
the county of Ventura, California, that are owned by the govern-
ment of a local political subdivision, and satisfy the require-
ments of paragraph (1)(D), shall be selected for participation 
in the program. 
8 u s e 1226 note. 
SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Attorney General shall complete a study, and submit 
a report to the Congress, concerning the logistical and technological 
feasibility of implementing the program under section 1 in a greater 
number of locations than those selected under such section 
through— 
(1) the assignment of a single Immigration and Naturaliza-
tion Service employee to more than 1 incarceration facility; 
and 
PUBLIC LAW 105-141—DEC. 5, 1997 
111 STAT. 2649 
(2) the development of a system to permit the Attorney 
General to conduct off-site verification, by computer or other 
electronic means, of the immigration status of individuals who 
are incarcerated in local governmental incarceration facilities 
prior to arraignment on criminal charges. 
Approved December 5, 1997. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 1493: 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 105-338 (Comm. on the Judiciary). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 143 (1997): 
Nov. 4, considered and passed House. 
Nov. 13, considered and passed Senate.