Recent studies show the percentage of illegal aliens in Los Angeles County jails has more than doubled from 11 percent in 1990 to 25 percent this year, and the annual cost to incarcerate them has grown from $75 million in 1990 to $150 million in 2000. At any time, more than 4,000 county jail inmates are illegal criminal aliens, Sheriff Lee Baca said, noting that 60-70 percent of those inmates have been re-arrested in the last four to five years.
Of the county's 150,000 gang members, 27,000 are illegal criminal aliens, officials estimate.