Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) law enforcement activities relating to criminal aliens in five cities with large alien populations.

GAO found that: (1) all five INS district offices considered alien criminal activity a serious problem; (2) Houston and Los Angeles reported that more than 20 percent of arrests involved foreign-born individuals; (3) Miami reported alien involvement in 38 percent of criminal arrests; and (4) Chicago and Denver reported alien involvement in 9 and 7 percent of arrests, respectively. GAO also found that the district offices' investigative efforts varied, since: (1) Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami directed their efforts mainly at incarcerated aliens; (2) Houston and Los Angeles attempted to identify criminal aliens earlier in the system at bail hearings and through various projects; and (3) Chicago and Denver concentrated their efforts at or before bond hearings. GAO also found that the two information systems INS uses to detect previously deported aliens do not always contain deportation information.