Page 1 GAO-24-107598 Noncitizens in the U.S.
Depending on the nature of the offense, noncitizens in the U.S. who are arrested
and convicted of crimes may be incarcerated by federal, state, or local
authorities, which bear the costs of incarcerating them. Since 2005, we have
periodically reported available information on the number of noncitizens
incarcerated in the U.S. and the cost of incarcerating them.
1
For example, we
previously reported on the number and nationality of noncitizens incarcerated in
the U.S., the types of offenses for which they were arrested and convicted, and
their potential removability at the time of incarceration. We also previously
reported on the estimated costs to the federal government and to states of
incarcerating noncitizens.
We were asked to provide an update to our previous work and are in the process
of conducting the relevant analyses, the results of which we anticipate issuing in
winter 2025. In the interim, this report provides information on the agencies that
collect and maintain information about the citizenship of individuals incarcerated
in the U.S. and publicly reported information on the number of noncitizens
incarcerated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at year-end of each year
for 2017 through 2022; the number of noncitizens sentenced for federal offenses
from fiscal year 2018 through fiscal year 2023; and the types of offenses for
which they were sentenced.
2
Though related, this report has some key differences from our past and ongoing
work on noncitizens incarcerated in the U.S. For example, data in this report rely
exclusively on publicly reported summary-level information from the Department
of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the U.S. Sentencing
Commission (USSC), whereas in our past work on this topic, we analyzed
individual-level data from DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In addition, in this report, information on individuals incarcerated by BOP includes
individuals held prior to their conviction and sentencing, whereas our past work
focused on individuals who were convicted and sentenced for an offense. As a
result, some information described in this report is not directly comparable to past
related work and may not be comparable to information developed for our
ongoing effort.
• Components of the judicial branch, DOJ, and DHS collect or maintain
information about the citizenship of individuals incarcerated by BOP. Federal
agencies do not collect or maintain comprehensive information about the
citizenship of individuals incarcerated in state prisons and local jails.
According to a DOJ and DHS report about noncitizens incarcerated in the
U.S., the lack of comprehensive information about state and local
incarcerations was a noteworthy data limitation considering that
approximately 90 percent of the total population incarcerated in the U.S. were
in state and local facilities.
U.S. Government Accountability Office
in the U.S.: Public Information on
Incarcerations
-24-107598
Report to Congressional Requesters
, 2024
