NCJ Number
172329
Date Published
1995
Length
47 pages
Annotation
A sample of criminal cases disposed of and reported in 1994 to the Texas Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) was analyzed to estimate the extent of the criminal alien problem.
Abstract
Records included identification, arrest, and court information, and this information was used to evaluate the process from arrest to sentencing for each alien offender. Goals were to assess the extent of alien involvement in the criminal justice system, to compare differences between offense types and dispositions for U.S. citizens and aliens, and to examine differences in the processing of U.S. citizens and aliens. Offenses were categorized as violent, property, drug, sex and family, and other offenses. Court dispositions were classified as convictions, not convicted, deferred, and other. Results showed almost 12 percent of arrests involved criminal aliens. Criminal aliens were more likely to be arrested for a misdemeanor offense than U.S. citizens. Criminal aliens comprised about the same proportion of court dispositions as arrests, and both U.S. citizens and criminal aliens were convicted at about the same rate. Criminal aliens were most likely to be in jail awaiting prison for violent or drug offenses. More than 9 percent of the Teas prison population was reported as being foreign-born, and criminal aliens constituted about 46.4 percent of the foreign- born prison population. As of June 1994, only 292 criminal aliens were on parole supervision out of a total of 73,000 parolees. Details are provided on the Texas Law Enforcement Support Center, the CJIS, procedures for the identification of criminal aliens, and criminal alien adjudication. Recommendations to improve the processing of criminal aliens in Texas are offered. Additional information is appended on criminal grounds for the deportation of aliens, offense types, and the flow of arrestees in the Texas criminal justice system. 4 tables and 14 charts