Oklahoma illegal immigrant inmates to be deported
Thursday, July 23, 2009

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Nearly two dozen illegal immigrants who were convicted in Oklahoma courts will be released from a state prison on Thursday and turned over to federal agents for deportation — even though some may have served only a third of their sentence, corrections officials confirmed Wednesday.

The 22 inmates mark the largest group scheduled to be deported under a new state law intended to save money. It allows the release of illegal immigrants who are deemed nonviolent offenders and have served at least one-third of their prison sentence.

The law was modeled after one in Arizona. New York, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico have similar programs.

"Essentially, it is shifting the cost of incarcerating illegal aliens from the state taxpayers back to the federal government where it belongs," said state Rep. Randy Terrill, who sponsored the bill. "We have illegal aliens in our state committing crimes against our citizens, when they shouldn't even be here in the first place."

Most of the inmates to be removed Thursday are from Mexico. They range in age from 20 to 61, and most were convicted of drug crimes. One of the inmates has a previous conviction for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and two have convictions for indecent exposure, according to prison records and a list provided by the Department of Corrections.

Some Hispanic advocates said the law is an example of illegal immigrants being an easy political target because the deportation won't prevent them from coming back to the U.S.

"Those people are going to get deported, then turn around and cross the border and come back," said Patricia Fennell, head of the Latino Community Development Agency in Oklahoma City. "If they have families here, property here and connections here, possibly they will come back."

Tim Counts, spokesman for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said deported illegal immigrants who return to the U.S. could up to face 20 years in prison if convicted in federal court. He said he didn't have details on how many ultimately return to the U.S.

Since the new law took effect June 5, 32 inmates have been turned over to ICE officials, said Jim Rabon, administrator of sentence administration for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

Rabon said prison officials have identified 181 inmates who meet the eligibility requirements, but that inmates must have a current deportation order and travel documents to their home country before they are handed over to ICE.

In Arizona, which implemented a similar program in 2005, more than 2,580 inmates have been deported from that state's prison system for a total cost savings to the state of nearly $32 million, said Bill Lamoreaux, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Other programs have been implemented in Puerto Rico, New York and Rhode Island.

Terrill, R-Moore, a fierce opponent of illegal immigration, said as many as 346 inmates in Oklahoma prisons ultimately could qualify for deportation under the law, which he said would save the state up to $7 million over the next few years.

If the 181 eligible inmates are deported in the next year, Terrill said it would save the state about $3.6 million in the current fiscal year.

"It is indisputable that illegal immigration is a net financial drain on Oklahoma to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, mostly concentrated in the areas of education, health care, welfare and corrections," Terrill said.

Once inmates are transferred to ICE custody, they generally are sent to federal holding facilities or jails under contract with federal officials and returned to their country of origin within a few weeks, Counts said.

"The idea is that they're turned over to us shortly before they're removed," he said. "It's generally a fairly short time frame."

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