[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 94 (Tuesday, July 19, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
THE NEED TO DEAL WITH ILLEGAL ALIEN PRISONERS--SEND THEM HOME TO SERVE 
                            THEIR SENTENCES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Deutsch). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from California [Mr. Horn] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, last week, on behalf of myself and nine 
colleagues from both sides of the aisle, I introduced H.R. 4765, the 
Illegal Alien Prisoner Transfer and Border Enforcement Act of 1994. 
When enacted, the President is urged to begin within 90 days the 
renegotiation of the existing bilateral Prisoner Transfer Treaties with 
Mexico and other countries which have sizable numbers of illegal 
criminal aliens in our prisons.
  Currently, the U.S. taxpayer is paying the toll twice: First, for the 
crimes illegal aliens commit here; and second, for the cost of housing 
illegal alien inmates in our already overcrowded federal and state 
prisons. The annual incarceration cost to the United States to house 
illegal alien prisoners is approximately $1.2 billion.
  The Federal Bureau of Prisons reports that approximately 24 percent 
of its 91,000 prisoners are not U.S. citizens. The annual cost per 
inmate is $20,803. According to the Federal Bureau of Justice 
statistics, about 4 percent of the inmates in our State prisons are not 
U.S. citizens. The estimated cost to California alone is $375 million 
annually.
  Alien prisoners come from some 49 countries in North America, South 
America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Almost half of that population is of 
Mexican origin.
  The Immigration and Naturalization Service has estimated that as of 
October 1992, the total illegal alien population in our Nation was 3.2 
million people and growing at 300,000 annually. The States of 
California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and New York have been 
particularly hard hit.
  Almost two decades ago, in 1976, the United States established a 
Prisoner Transfer Treaty with Mexico. Most agree that this treaty is 
not working, and the facts support this. For example, under this 
arrangement Mexican citizens in the United States, who are arrested and 
convicted of a crime, may choose whether they will do their prison time 
in the United States or in Mexico. For the few who do return to Mexico, 
there is no assurance that they will serve the balance of their full 
term. It is time for a change of course.
  H.R. 4765 provides the dual benefit of relieving our overcrowded 
prisons while simultaneously offering a multi-faceted approach to 
improve border management. Domestic prison overcrowding would be 
relieved by having illegal alien criminals deported to their country of 
origin to serve out the balance of their sentence. Under this measure, 
countries which comply with the renegotiated treaty would be able to 
enroll at no cost their border management personnel in appropriate 
Federal and cooperative State training and educational programs. The 
incentive is increased competency for these foreign officers to control 
illegal immigration, drug interdiction, and other cross-border criminal 
activities such as to prevent the illegal transit of people and goods. 
Their success on the job would be of tremendous benefit to both 
countries. We should work with our neighbor, Mexico, which has been 
very cooperative in drug interdiction efforts, to ensure that its 
criminal population serves their prison time at home.

  It is time for Congress and the President to take joint 
responsibility for the impact on the States caused by the relentless 
flow of illegal immigration. The U.S. taxpayer should no longer be 
saddled with the full cost of supporting those who have not only 
crossed our borders illegally, but have committed crimes while they are 
here. Our bill seeks to alleviate one part of that burden.
  Mr. Speaker, illegal immigration is a heavy cost to our Nation. 
Illegal immigrant criminal activity provides an even heavier cost. 
These are not simply regional problems. This is a national problem. We 
need your help.
  Those joining me in this effort are: Mr. Beilenson, Mr. Canady, Mr. 
Condit, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Pete Geren of Texas, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Thomas of 
California, Mrs. Thurman, and Ms. Woolsey.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that the text of H.R. 4765 be printed at this 
point in the Record:

                               H.R. 4765

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the `Illegal Alien Prisoner 
     Transfer and Border Enforcement Act of 1994'.

     SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this Act is to relieve overcrowding in 
     Federal and State prisons and costs borne by American 
     taxpayers by providing for the transfer of aliens unlawfully 
     in the United States who have been convicted of committing 
     crimes in the United States to their native countries to be 
     incarcerated for the duration of their sentences.

     SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

       The Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The cost of incarcerating an alien unlawfully in the 
     United States in a Federal or State prison averages $20,803 
     per year.
       (2) There are approximately 58,000 aliens convicted of 
     crimes incarcerated in United States prisons, including 
     41,000 aliens in State prisons and 17,000 aliens in Federal 
     prisons.
       (3) Many of these aliens convicted of crimes are also 
     unlawfully in the United States, but the Immigration and 
     Naturalization Service does not have exact data on how many.
       (4) The combined cost to Federal and State governments for 
     the incarceration of such criminal aliens is approximately 
     $1,200,000,000, including--
       (A) for State governments, $760,000,000; and
       (B) for the Federal Government, $440,000,000.

     SEC. 4. PRISONER TRANSFER TREATIES.

       Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the President should begin to negotiate and renegotiate 
     bilateral prisoner transfer treaties. The focus of such 
     negotiations shall be to expedite the transfer of aliens 
     unlawfully in the United States who are incarcerated in 
     United States prisons, to ensure that a transferred prisoner 
     serves the balance of the sentence imposed by the United 
     States courts, and to eliminate any requirement of prisoner 
     consent to such a transfer.

     SEC. 5. CERTIFICATION.

       The President shall certify whether each prisoner transfer 
     treaty is effective in returning aliens unlawfully in the 
     United States who are incarcerated in the United States to 
     their country of citizenship.

     SEC. 6. TRAINING OF PERSONNEL FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

       Subject to a certification under section 5, the President 
     shall direct the appropriate Federal programs providing 
     training and education in border management to enroll for 
     training certain foreign border management personnel. The 
     President shall authorize the enrollment of foreign border 
     management personnel to such Federal programs and cooperative 
     State programs as will enhance the following United States 
     law enforcement goals:
       (1) Drug interdiction and other cross-border criminal 
     activity.
       (2) Preventing illegal transit of people and goods.

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