Fairfax County has about 4,500 illegal immigrants in its jail, the most of any Northern Virginia locality, according to state crime commission findings released Tuesday.

Illegal aliens account for about 16 percent of Fairfax’s inmates. The crime commission, which advises the General Assembly on legal issues, estimated 8 to 10 percent of all jail inmates statewide are illegal aliens.

“I had no idea it was that high,” said Del. David Albo, R-Springfield, of Fairfax’s incarcerated illegal immigrant population. “It costs the county taxpayers a lot of money — about $10,000 per inmate each year — to keep people locked up that shouldn’t even be in this country.”

Albo, co-chairman of the commission, is preparing legislation for January’s General Assembly session that would require localities to begin deportation proceedings against incarcerated illegal immigrants after the prisoners have served their sentences. Albo added that even if the state enacts that law, Virginia would need cooperation from federal officials to get the offenders out of the country.

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Prince William County, where local officials have made national headlines for their efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants, has a slightly higher percentage of illegal aliens incarcerated (17 percent, or 2,409 people) than Fairfax does. Loudoun’s inmate population of 636 illegals (4.6 percent of all inmates) is much smaller than its neighbors.

According to commission research, most illegal immigrants are incarcerated after being convicted of drunken driving and other alcohol-related offenses or for charges of possessing forged government documents.

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com