WA wants to send illegal immigrant inmates to feds

For the third year in a row, Washington state officials want to save money by putting some inmates who are illegally in the country in federal custody - essentially speeding up their deportation.

Lawmakers on Monday heard a proposal from the Department of Corrections that eases the way prisoners convicted of non-violent crimes are transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

But immigrant advocates warned that the way the bill is written now may net immigrants who are legally in the country and immigrants who may be able to contest deportation.

The proposal, which was part of Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget, is estimated to save about $3 million in the next two-year budget. Lawmakers face a $4.6 billion deficit in that budget.

The department's savings estimate was based on an average of about 150 inmates who would qualify under the bill and the time they would serve in the state system.

"The policy behind it is that if this individual is going to be deported anyway, and presumably not in our community, the question remains whether it's good expenditure of state funds. to spend funds incarcerating them until they can serve their sentences," said Scott Blonien, assistant secretary at the corrections department.

He added that the bill only affects immigrants who have been served a "final order of deportation," which is when a federal immigration judge orders a person removed from the country.

Under the bill, Blonien said, an arrest warrant is issued against the inmate shortly after custody is switched to ICE; that way, if the person comes back to the country and is arrested again, they would be flown back to Washington to serve what remains of their sentence.

The measure removes part of existing law that requires judges and prosecutors to sign off on the transfer. To underscore his point, Blonien said in a House Ways & Means committee hearing that out of 30 letters asking for a transfer this past year, only once did the prosecutor and judge agree.

Jorge Baron, executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, an organization that provides legal services to immigrants at the Tacoma detention center, said the scope of the bill is not limited to illegal immigrants, but could affect refugees and lawful permanent residents who may be deportable after a conviction.

"Our concern we have with this bill is that it does not include any protections for individuals who may be able to contest deportation even after a final order of deportation has been entered," Baron said, adding that sometimes people are ordered a final order of deportation in absentia.

Baron was working with lawmakers to introduce an amendment that would add a 30-day notice before the transfer, to allow inmates to find out if they can fight deportation. He said that the 30-day notice may only cause a small decrease in the targeted savings.

Similar efforts to transfer custody of inmates who are illegal immigrants to the federal government failed during the past two years.

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The illegal immigrant inmates bill is House Bill 1547

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Online:

http://www.leg.wa.gov