Gov calls for deportation of jailed illegal aliens
By MANUEL VALDES
Associated Press Writer
The Seattle Times
To save money, Gov. Chris Gregoire wants illegal aliens serving time in state prisons deported.
Her proposal estimates that deporting illegal aliens - who are serving or would serve time for drug or property crime convictions - will save the state more than $9 million in the next two-year budget.
The state faces a $5.7 billion budget deficit over the next 2 1/2 years, and Gregoire has proposed a no new-taxes budget proposal laden with cuts, including about $200 million from the Department of Corrections, the attorney general's office, and other public safety programs.
The deportation proposal is modeled after a program in Arizona that has saved the state more than $18.5 million since 2005, said Eldon Vail, secretary of the Washington Department of Corrections.
"It's not an ideal choice, if revenue was there, I'd say have them do their time," Vail said. "Is justice better served? It's a tough question to wrestle with when you don't have resources."
The proposal would call for the state to come to an agreement with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, which would carry out the deportations. In Washington, there are about 350 prisoners who would be eligible to be transferred to ICE. On average, it costs the state $90 a day to imprison an inmate, Vail said.
It also includes allowing state workers to act as immigration agents in some instances, assisting ICE in processing illegal aliens under a version of the so-called 287(g) agreements, which are contentious among immigrant advocates.
"Generally, we are always concerned with any attempt by local, state officials to try to enforce immigration law," said Jorge Baron, executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, a legal aid organization for immigrants.
"It's a field of law that's very complex. In our experience, any time local, state agencies get involved, it leads to problems," Baron said.
Baron said people, even with criminal convictions, can still be eligible for citizenship under U.S. law in some cases, and others can qualify for asylum.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008574652_apwagregoiredeportations.html
