The New York State Corrections Department has a long- standing policy of cooperating with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). These two Federal agencies are responsible for implementing the Federal Immigration Law. The public protection goal shared by the Department and these Federal Agencies is the deportation of criminal aliens. An analysis of the return-to-custody rates of a 1988 release cohort suggests that the Department's policy of cooperation with INS and EOIR has been successful. The return rate for U.S.-born releases was 54 percent. In contrast, the return rates for foreign-born releases to the community was 38 percent, releases to INS warrant was 15 percent, and none of the releases with deportation orders returned to custody. Apparently, when the Federal agencies target criminal aliens for deportation from the United States, they are largely successful in their efforts; however, the return rates of illegal aliens and Mariel Cubans also suggest that the Federal Government must allocate more resources for the deportation of criminal aliens from the United States. 4 tables