U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions announced a plan Thursday that he said would speed up deportations for criminal illegal immigrants while saving taxpayers money.

The former Alabama senator wants to expand and modify the Justice Department's institutional hearing program by bringing immigration judges to defendants instead of the reverse. The program identifies federal inmates who are illegal immigrants and are "removable" and deports them after completing their sentences instead.

"We owe it to the American people to ensure that illegal aliens who have been convicted of crimes and are serving time in our federal prisons are expeditiously removed from our country as the law requires," Sessions said in a statement announcing the plan. "This expansion and modernization of the institutional hearing program gives us the tools to continue making Americans safe again in their communities."

Sessions' plan includes increasing the number of Bureau of Prisons contract facilities that can conduct the deportations and increasing technology used for video teleconference deportation proceedings. The third step involves a new uniform intake policy between a DOJ office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Sessions' office said that agreement is expected to be made by next week.