Convicts sentenced for immigration-related crimes are the second biggest population in federal prisons, the latest sign that the issue of illegal immigration is a costly one for the country, according to a new report.
The Justice Department said that immigration sentences are second only to drugs, though the prison populations are essentially tied. There are 20,607 federal convicts jailed on drug charges and 20,421 for immigration crimes, according to a new Bureau of Justice Statistics analysis by the security research group Security.org.
Dwarfing that number is the huge group of illegal immigrants seized last year by the Enforcement and Removal Operations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The acting head of ICE, Ronald D. Vitiello, revealed at a hearing in Texas Tuesday that most of those arrested inside the country either had a prior criminal record or faced new charges.
“In Fiscal Year 2018, ERO officers made nearly 160,000 interior arrests, most of whom had a prior criminal record. Of those arrested, more than 105,000 had at least one criminal conviction, while another 32,977 had pending criminal charges, illustrating ICE’s strong focus on public safety,” he said.
In the prison analysis, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah were the epicenters for illegal immigration convictions.
