Speech #1020140808

Speaker. as if State prison systems didnt have enough problems. they are now becoming terribly crowded with criminal aliens. In my home State. for example. more than 12 percent of the prison populationthat Is one out of every eight Inmatesis not a U.S. citizen. Of these criminal aliens. an estimated 35 percent are Illegal aliens. people who are not supposed to be In this country at all. And this Is happening at a time when State prisons are operating at absolutely top capacity. When one criminal gets sentenced to prison. another has to be released to make room. Criminal aliens are occupying desperately needed prison spaces. and taxing the State prisons almost beyond their ability to respond. Incarcerating criminal aliens ought to be a Federal obligation. Almost all of the criminal aliens In State prisons are deportable. meanIng that they need not be In this country at all. and that the States are simply warehousing them until the Federal Government can get around to deporting them. In the case of Illegal aliens. they are here In the first place solely because the Federal Government Is not doing its job. For the Federal Government to fall to prevent the flow of these Individuals Into the United States. and then to disclaim any accountability for the costs their criminal behavior Imposes on the States. Is just plain Irresponsible.