NUMBER OF CRIMINAL ALIENS IN OREGON PRISONS GROWS

From Oregonians for Immigration Reform:

July 7, 2009

OFIR Members and Friends:

The following report was sent as a news release to OFIR’s media list yesterday. It will be posted on the OFIR website also. Thanks to David Cross for his research on crime by illegal aliens in Oregon, which is one of the most harmful effects of uncontrolled immigration.

NUMBER OF CRIMINAL ALIENS IN OREGON PRISONS GROWS

As of June 2009

According to the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) Inmate Population Profile dated June 1, 2009, DOC indicated there were 13,907 prisoners incarcerated in Oregon’s 14 prisons.

http://www.oregon.gov/DOC/RESRCH/inmate ... n_Profiles

Not included in DOC’s June 1st Inmate Population Profile was DOC information indicating there were 1,197 foreign national (criminal alien) prisoners incarcerated by the State.[1]

Criminal aliens made up approximately 8.61% of the DOC June 1st prison population.

In just one year, DOC has witnessed a significant increase in the number of criminal aliens incarcerated in its prison system when comparing incarceration numbers from June 1st of 2008, 1,053 criminal aliens, and June 1st of 2009, 1,197 criminal aliens.

On June 1st of 2009, DOC incarcerated 144 criminal aliens more than it did on June 1st of 2008, a 13.67% increase.

Reviewing the crimes by number and type committed by the 1,197 criminal aliens currently incarcerated in Oregon’s State prisons, they include 4-arsons, 168-assaults, 41-burglaries, 38-driving offenses, 143-drugs, 7-forgeries, 161-homicides, 49-kidnappings, 51-others, 166-rapes, 90-robberies, 179-sex abuses, 71-sodomies, 19-thefts, 10-vehicle thefts.

All 1,197 criminal alien prisoners incarcerated in June by DOC had Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers placed on them by ICE.

An ICE detainer on a criminal alien prisoner means in all likelihood that after he/she serves his/her time in prison, after appearance in Federal Immigration Court, he/she will be deported from the United States to his/her country of origin.

To understand the effect criminal aliens have on the legal U.S. Citizens and documented foreign national residents of Oregon, let us examine some population estimates and population percentages.

The State of Oregon’s estimated population is 3,745,555. http://www.pdx.edu/sites/www.pdx.edu.pr ... t2_rev.pdf

According to the 2005 PEW Hispanic Research Center research, the estimated number of undocumented foreign nationals (illegal aliens) living in Oregon is between 125,000—175,000. See: http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/17.pdf

Using PEW’s middle estimate, if 150,000 illegal aliens were included in Oregon’s estimated population of 3.75 million, they would makeup approximately 4.00% of the State’s population.

The percentage of legal U.S. citizens, documented foreign nationals, and illegal aliens DOC incarcerated on June 1, 2009 was approximately 0.37% of Oregon’s population.

Oregon’s prisons on June 1, 2009 incarcerated 12,710 prisoners who were legal U.S. citizens.

The incarceration rate by DOC of legal U.S. citizens in June was approximately 0.34% of the State’s population.

Using the middle number of 2005 PEW Hispanic Research Center population estimate of 150,000 illegal aliens living in Oregon, the incarceration rate by DOC of illegal aliens would be 0.80% of their respective population group.

The estimated population number and incarceration rate for illegal aliens does not reflect monetary and the public safety costs criminal aliens pose to Oregon’s legal U.S. citizens and documented foreign national taxpayers.

The cost to Oregon taxpayers to incarcerate an individual DOC prisoner is approximately $77.78 per day. http://www.oregon.gov/DOC/PUBAFF/docs/p ... kfacts.pdf

Financially, the cost to Oregon taxpayers to incarcerate DOC’s 1,197 criminal alien prison population is approximately $93,102.66 per day, $651,718.62 per week, and $33,982,470.90 per year.

Even taking into account the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) award (2008-AP-BX-0884) of $6,405,825.00 to Oregon in fiscal year 2008, if the State of Oregon receives the same amount of SCAAP funding for fiscal year 2009, the cost to incarcerate criminal aliens to Oregon’s State government, Oregon taxpayers, will be at least $27,576,645.90.

None of my preceding cost estimates for DOC to incarcerate the 1,197 criminal aliens include the dollar amount for legal services, indigent defense, nor do my estimates cover victim assistance.

In 2007 a U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) report titled “Cooperation of SCAAP (State Criminal Alien Assistance Program) Recipients in the Removal of Criminal Aliens from the United States, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General Audit Division, Audit Report 07-07, January 2007, Redacted-Public Versionâ€