More Calls To Deport In Michigan
Some lawmakers still don’t understand why cash-strapped Michigan is keeping foreign criminals behind bars rather than handing them off to the federal government for immediate deportation. This report from the Lansing State Journal.
Legislation sponsored by state Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith would let state inmates with deportation orders be moved to federal custody after serving at least half their minimum sentence. A House subcommittee is scheduled to vote on the measure Tuesday.”Why should our taxpayers be paying for the care, housing and feeding of prisoners for whom the federal government has papers sending them home?” asked Smith …
Michigan now requires all prisoners to serve their minimum term before being considered for release. Smith’s bill would relax the law so some immigrant inmates here illegally or whose conviction requires deportation are turned over to federal authorities earlier. Murderers, rapists and habitual offenders couldn’t qualify for an early exit from the country.
The measure has hit resistance from [some] lawmakers who worry that everything from fairness issues to the complexities of immigration law make it unworkable. Rep. John Proos said it’s unfair to release foreigners early when Americans in the state’s prisons would have to serve longer. “What is the response by the victims and their families who now see justice denied by one-half?” he asked …
As of March, Michigan had 156 inmates with final deportation orders who could be freed immediately to be shipped home by the federal government if Smith’s legislation is approved, her office said. Sixty-six were from Mexico, 17 from Cuba and 11 from Iraq. Another 55 prisoners potentially could be handed over if a final deportation order is entered. Hundreds of other foreign nationals are serving time for murder or criminal sexual conduct, were sentenced as habitual offenders or haven’t got halfway through their sentence, so they would be ineligible for the switch …
The legislation is modeled after programs in New York, Arizona and – most recently – Rhode Island. The states work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to identify and deport convicts if their offenses are considered nonviolent. The governors of Washington and New Hampshire recently pitched similar plans.ICE says New York has saved $140 million since 1995 through its criminal deportation program. Arizona has saved $18 million in detention costs since 2005. More than 114,000 criminals were removed from the U.S. in the past fiscal year.
Early Release, Economic Issues, ICE, Immigration Issues / Illegal Aliens, Michigan
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