More than 90 percent of inmates held in federal prisons are illegal immigrants, according to data released by the Department of Justice on Tuesday.
The data:
- 45,500 federal prisoners are foreign born.
- 41,550 of those are in the U.S. illegally.
The amount of foreign-born prisoners overall represents 24 percent of the federal prison population, according to the data.
"Illegal aliens who commit additional crimes in the United States are a threat to public safety and a burden on our criminal justice system," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.
"This is why we must secure our borders through a wall and effective law enforcement, and we must strengthen cooperation between federal, state and local governments as we strive to fulfill our sacred duty of protecting and serving the American people," Sessions said.
Of those illegals incarcerated, 54 percent have been issued deportation orders, and another 33 percent are being investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the data shows.
Just 26 — or 0.1 percent — have been issued asylum.
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