Speech #1050094883

South Dakota. Iowa. and others. These areas are the new and easy targets of illegal aliens. criminal aliens. who bring drugs with them. The most recent Salt Lake City police records. for example. indicate that 80 percent of arrests for felony level narcotics violations are undocumented aliens. H.R. 1493. the legislation we are discussing today. expands the pilot program that has been extremely successful in the city of Anaheim to several prisons across the Nation. It is of particular interest to areas like Salt Lake County. One of the main challenges facing Salt Lake County at this time is inadequate jail space and lack of identification capabilities for aliens arrested by local authorities. By identifying illegal aliens prior to arraignment under this program. they can be deported immediately. rather than held in local jails at the expense of local taxpayers. rather than taking up space better used to hold more violent criminals arrested for committing local crimes. or worse yet. rather than being set free due to lack of jail space. and endangering the local populations. By identifying illegal aliens. the burden which the Federal Government is currently placing on local entities can be significantly relieved. We live in times of limited resources. I was concerned that States like Utah would not be selected to participate in this very effective program. so during consideration of H.R. 1493 in the Committee on the Judiciary. I was pleased to have the opportunity to work with the gentleman from California . the gentleman from Texas . the gentleman from North Carolina . and other distinguished members of the subcommittee to ensure that our interior States will be able to reap the benefits of this program. Of the qualified facilities selected across the Nation for participation in the program. 20 percent of those must be located in areas that are not adjacent to a land border. This means that beginning in 1999. of the up to 25 sites selected for participation. about 5 must be located in interior areas with high concentrations of illegal immigration. While we continue to read report after report of the problems with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. we must lend our support today to a program with a proven track record that will assist our local and State communities to stem the problem of illegal immigration. 0l 1400