Deportations may save Oklahoma $4M
State law will shift cost of housing illegal immigrant inmates to federal government
JULIE BISBEE, Capitol Bureau
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Published: June 14, 2009
Oklahoma will begin deporting illegal immigrants who are serving sentences for nonviolent crimes when a new law takes effect July 1.
The Oklahoma Criminal Illegal Alien Rapid Repatriation Act is expected to save Oklahoma taxpayers at least $4 million in the first year, said Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, the author of the measure.
The bill passed the House unanimously and received just one no vote in the Senate.
Terrill, who has authored several bills concerning illegal immigration, said the legislation is an attempt to get the federal government to pick up the tab for housing people who are in the country illegally.
"The federal government has fallen down on protecting the nation’s borders,” Terrill said.
"The federal government has improperly shifted the cost to the states. This is a way to shift it back to them,” he said.
The law will allow an offender who is in the country illegally to be considered for deportation if they have been convicted of a nonviolent crime and have served a third of their sentence.
Federal officials must issue an order for deportation, and an offender cannot be deported if they have pending federal charges, said
Carl Rusnok, director of communications for the central region of the
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
If an undocumented immigrant returns to the state, they can be sent back to prison to serve the remaining sentence and additional time if prosecuted for entering the
United States illegally after being deported, Rusnok said.
The law prohibits private prisons from contracting to house federal detainees, such as prisoners at
Guantanamo Bay, and requires private prisons to get Corrections Department approval for new construction plans.
The law also limits the types of offenders that private prisons may house in Oklahoma.
The Board of Corrections can fine or close private prisons that do not adhere to the provisions.
Oklahoma’s prison population includes 511 inmates who are in the country illegally and serving prison sentences. Of those, 230 inmates already have served a third of their sentence and would be eligible for the program this year, according to figures from the Corrections Department.
The state pays $19,798 to house an offender for a year. Corrections officials already have been in contact with federal immigration officials to discuss a plan to transfer inmates, said
Jerry Massie, agency spokesman.
After a few policy changes are made to reflect the language of the new law, offenders could be turned over to federal custody as soon as next month, Massie said.
Transferring offenders would not happen until final deportation orders are issued and could be done on a staggered basis, Rusnok said.
"It’s not like they will go immediately into” federal custody, Rusnok said. "We will work closely with Oklahoma agencies to make sure these people are properly identified and that not everybody comes to us at once when the program becomes effective.”
New York and
Arizona have saved money by sending illegal immigrants back to their home countries.
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Rob, Norman - Jun 14, 2009 at 2:50 pm"
Different era, different laws, different requirements, different needs. Actually, each immigrant who came through Ellis Island was medically inspected and asked a series of questions to determine their education level, work skills, criminal background, etc. And yes, most immigrants who came through Ellis Island did have their "papers" in hand. But the bottom line is that the immigrants back then came here LEGALLY. Illegal aliens currently in the United States either came here illegally, or they came here legally and then stayed past the expiration date on their visas. Americans have no control over who comes here illegally. Most illegal aliens are Hispanic, but that's a negative situation that they created for themselves. Don't blame Americans for that.
Rob, Norman - Jun 14, 2009 at 2:40 pm"
Actually it's because of the fact that they're in the United States ILLEGALLY. But why let the truth get in your way.
Rob, Norman - Jun 14, 2009 at 2:30 am"
The Spaniards came to North America about 100 years before the first white Europeans arrived here. How odd that you didn't mention that fact. And yes, the Spaniards did indeed rape and impregnate many of the Native Americans. By the way, the majority of Mexicans alive today are descended from those raping and impregnating Spaniards. From your comments, it is clear that you're a racist who hates white people. How sad for you.
Rob, Norman Jun 14, 2009 at 6:19 pm"
Yours is one of the most ignorant and moronic comments that I've ever read on the Internet. You are clearly delusional.
Rob, Norman - Jun 14, 2009 at 6:19 pm"
Overstate things much? Why do you hate white people and Protestants so much? YOU are the racist!
Another thing, Randy, just exactly how much effect do you think a book keeping entry will have on this whole immigration problem? Do you really believe that moving a mark from a column heading "state per diem" to a column marked "federal per diem" is more powerful than border patrols, federal marshals, federal legislation from the Congress of the U.S., border fences of concrete and steel in south Texas in stopping people from entering Oklahoma? And if you do, why wait until they've been eating at our trough, uninvited and unwanted, for one third of their Oklahoma jail time? Your legislation guarantees it. See if you can find an elementary school librarian in Moore who can help you write a law that doesn't end up biting us. Hey, sounds like there might be one Senator available if you ask real nice.
Rob, Norman - Jun 14, 2009 at 2:50 pm" - If you are speaking of the Immigration act of 1924, that law was rendered a dead letter by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. That latter act has literally changed the ethnic makeup of the United States, by allowing tens of millions of non-Europeans into the country legally. You really don't know what you're talking about - just spewing MSNBC talking points - and it sure shows.
Please feel free to use my tax money to pay for gas or diesel for a car, bus, or plane for their transportation needs.
Rob, Norman - Jun 14, 2009 at 2:40 pm" - Is this from another article I missed? Who is being "purged" from the state of Oklahoma based on their race and religion? When did a law "purging" people from the state based on their race and religion get past Gov. Henry's veto? I know you can't be talking about law in this article, since it does no such thing. Point me to the article that spells this out, so I can go comment on how outrageous I think such a policy is. Thanks.
Sallie, Del City - Jun 14, 2009 at 2:33 pm" - Oh but I am. I thought my "Midol" moment crack was hilarious. Never tried Viagra, though - that would be overkill, like strapping a rocket booster to a race car.
Joe, Luther - Jun 14, 2009 at 2:10 pm" - More like comparing apples to oranges than moral equivalency. The poster just bristles with hostility for no apparent good reason at times - a constant pusher of open doors. *** But on the subject of my original post, few people who haven't had cause to study the issue in-depth, as I have, are aware that in the early Twentieth Century a number of Japanese scholars wrote long treatises deploring the fact the Europeans beat them to the colonization of the North American continent. This was at the same time Japanese militarism was beginning its steady rise that culminated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Prominent Russian scholars before 1917 often bemoaned the same thing. So this continent was going to be colonized by SOME group of people other than the ones who first showed up here, one way or another.
dick, danny - Jun 14, 2009 at 2:13 pm" - Who said they couldn't?
Or California where Nancy pelosi lives
I never stole land or goods from any ‘American Indian/Native American’ nor did my ancestors so guilt is not an option. I was born in America and I am as much of a ‘Native American' as the
Kickapoo, Sioux, Apache, Kiowa, etc. I owe no one with the label of Native Americans anything, much less a feeling of guilt or the need for apology.
Larry, you are doing us a huge favor by NOT moving back to Oklahoma. We are moving far right because we're sick and tired of spineless weasels like you, who don't take a stand for anything. You, sir, are a coward. Cowards have no business being here.