Nearly 200 illegal immigrant inmates transferred from Oklahoma custody

Most individuals deported under the state's rapid repatriation program had been convicted of drug and alcohol offenses.

There are 136 inmates awaiting pickup and removal by federal officials.

Eligible inmates must have served a third of their sentence and have a deportation order issued by a federal immigration judge.

They cannot be serving time for violent crimes, such as murder and first-degree rape, which require 85 percent of their sentence be served.

"If they're nonviolent, this is a great program that can get criminals out of the state and into federal custody," said Douglas Stump, an Oklahoma City immigration attorney and second vice president for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Violent criminals who plead to a lesser charge could be eligible for deportation under the law.

Criminals who were previously convicted of violent crimes but served those sentences could be as well.

Pedro Tavares, 51, who was serving time on a drug conviction but had previously served his sentence on a second-degree murder conviction, was deported last year and arrested two months later near Laredo, Texas.

Miguel Pu, 22, was serving time for rape by instrumentation, not considered a violent crime, when he was deported to Guatemala last year and arrested five months later in Arizona.