Under federal law, the immigration service is required to detain aliens whose convictions for "aggravated felonies" have rendered them deportable.

This allows the United States government to detain such aliens indefinitely without prosecuting them in any manner.

"The government has lost case after case in which it has sought to detain or deport aliens on the basis of secret evidence."

"We have broad power to detain or question aliens in this country," Mr. Jacobs said.

It also reimburses local agencies in the 29 counties along the border for costs related to detaining illegal aliens.

We have assessed this effort to detain aliens of "special interest."

Canada recently enacted a law that will make it easier for the Government to detain aliens without travel documents.

A question remains about whether the immigration service will have to increase the amount it spends to detain aliens in Elizabeth.

According to a number of legal experts, INS has taken the view that it can detain aliens for preventive rather than punitive purposes.

Prisons make a profit from the maintenance payments they receive from the Federal Government for detaining illegal aliens.