Auburn Prison (N.Y.)

In the first decade of the twentieth century, the problem of overcrowding in New York State prisons became so acute that the State legislature appropriated $350,000 for the construction of an additional prison at Comstock, New York. In the annual report of the Superintendent of State Prisons for 1909, the superintendent concluded that overcrowding was "largely due to the influx of immigrants into this state during the last few years." Foreign-born prisoners accounted for nearly fifty-five percent of the prison population increase during the period from 1906 to 1910. As a result, the superintendent pleaded with the federal government to assume responsibility for maintaining foreign-born inmates. Individual institutions assisted the superintendent by gathering detailed information concerning foreign-born inmates incarcerated within each facility.