10-30-2011, 01:11 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Federal immigration authorities are targeting 1,256 state prisoners convicted of murder, rape and other offenses for possible deportation, documents obtained under Georgia’s Open Records Act show.
The strain illegal immigrants are placing on Georgia’s prisons and other taxpayer-funded resources is at the center of the debate over the state’s tough new immigration law.
Georgia doesn't track the immigration status of inmates, so the number of illegal immigrants that are in Georgia prisons is not known. State officials, however, do track those who could face deportation once they are released from prison. That number, which includes both legal and illegal immigrants, was 1,256 this month. And they include a wide range of criminals, including robbers, child molesters and drug dealers, state records show.
Federal immigration officials have issued detainers for these inmates. The detainers ask state officials to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before these prisoners are released and to hold them for up to 48 more hours. That will give ICE time to possibly take them into custody and seek to deport them.
On average, it costs $50.17 to hold each inmate per day in a Georgia prison, including state and federal taxpayer dollars, prisoner fees and other funding sources, public records show. Using that figure, it costs $22.9 million to imprison 1,256 people annually in Georgia.
![[Image: 102811immigrant04_1169808c.jpg]](http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/01169/102811immigrant04_1169808c.jpg)
Federal immigration authorities are targeting 1,256 state prisoners convicted of murder, rape and other offenses for possible deportation, documents obtained under Georgia’s Open Records Act show.
The strain illegal immigrants are placing on Georgia’s prisons and other taxpayer-funded resources is at the center of the debate over the state’s tough new immigration law.
Georgia doesn't track the immigration status of inmates, so the number of illegal immigrants that are in Georgia prisons is not known. State officials, however, do track those who could face deportation once they are released from prison. That number, which includes both legal and illegal immigrants, was 1,256 this month. And they include a wide range of criminals, including robbers, child molesters and drug dealers, state records show.
Federal immigration officials have issued detainers for these inmates. The detainers ask state officials to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before these prisoners are released and to hold them for up to 48 more hours. That will give ICE time to possibly take them into custody and seek to deport them.
On average, it costs $50.17 to hold each inmate per day in a Georgia prison, including state and federal taxpayer dollars, prisoner fees and other funding sources, public records show. Using that figure, it costs $22.9 million to imprison 1,256 people annually in Georgia.