There are nearly 46,000 foreign-born criminals sitting in federal prisons, according to data released by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In a new report by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, 45,493 foreign-born convicted criminals were found to be in federal U.S. prisons, with the vast majority being illegal aliens. In total, there are roughly 190,000 inmates in federal prisons.

Of the 45,493 foreign-born inmates, only 3,939 were U.S. citizens, while the majority, 41,528 inmates, were illegal aliens.

More than 54 percent of the 41,528 illegal alien inmates have already been issued deportation orders. Another 33.4 percent of those inmates are under investigation and could be deported.

Of the 41,528 illegal alien inmates, more than 12 percent are awaiting a deportation decision by an immigration judge. Meanwhile, only 26 inmates are asylum-seekers.

Sessions said in a statement that the crime analysis and the broad number of foreign-born convicted criminals in U.S. prisons is just another reason why President Donald Trump’s plan to build a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico Border is needed.

“Illegal aliens who commit additional crimes in the United States are a threat to public safety and a burden on our criminal justice system,” Sessions said. “This is why we must secure our borders through a wall and effective law enforcement, and we must strengthen cooperation between federal, state and local governments as we strive to fulfill our sacred duty of protecting and serving the American people.”

Sessions said there is currently no path to which the federal government can analyze how many foreign-born convicted criminals are in state and local prisons. The statement noted that the DOJ “is in the process of establishing such a program” to gain access to such data.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.