NCJ Number
214382
Journal
Corrections Conpendium Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: March/April 2006 Pages: 10-21
Date Published
March 2006
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article presents survey results on foreign inmates in United States correctional systems and Canada in 2006 with a comparison from the last survey conducted in 1995.
Abstract
In 1995, survey results indicated that in the United States unchecked immigration began to drain already strained resources including correctional facilities. In this survey, conducted 11 years later, results show little change except for systems attempting to provide more accountability on the immigrant population. Survey responses from 36 correctional systems in the United States reported 39,183 foreign nationals in their facilities for 2006 and 4 Canadian jurisdictions reported 568 foreign nationals in 3 of their systems. The origin of the majority of the foreign inmates is Mexico. Texas listed 10,259 inmates from Mexico, while North Dakota listed no foreign inmates in its system. Twenty-two of the reporting United States correctional systems and all 4 Canadian systems have formal policies or directives in place for dealing with their foreign inmate population. In fiscal or calendar year 2004-2005, 15,401 foreign inmates were released from the United States reporting system, and 7,920 were released from Canadian systems. Of those released from the United States systems, 9,890 were released to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), others were released to paroling authorities and community programs. This 2006 survey provides statistical information on the numbers, formal policies, language barriers/accommodations, and release options for foreign inmates housed with both the United States and Canadian correctional systems. 4 Tables