A pig-flying moment in Washington state
A Democrat governor is calling for illegal alien criminals to be deported faster. Do my eyes deceive me? Are pigs flying?
It’s true: Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire has proposed a partnership with the feds to finally expedite the illegal alien criminal deportation process through the 287(g) program, which I’ve reported on extensively. (See here for background.)
Strapped budgets have a way of helping cure open-borders blindness (via Seattle Times, hat tip – Orbusmax). Better late than never.
To save money, Gov. Chris Gregoire wants illegal aliens serving time in state prisons deported.
Her proposal estimates that deporting illegal aliens — who are serving or would serve time for drug or property crime convictions — will save the state more than $9 million in the next two-year budget.
The state faces a $5.7 billion budget deficit over the next 2 1/2 years, and Gregoire has proposed a no new-taxes budget proposal laden with cuts, including about $200 million from the Department of Corrections, the attorney general’s office, and other public safety programs.
The deportation proposal is modeled after a program in Arizona that has saved the state more than $18.5 million since 2005, said Eldon Vail, secretary of the Washington Department of Corrections.
“It’s not an ideal choice, if revenue was there, I’d say have them do their time,” Vail said. “Is justice better served? It’s a tough question to wrestle with when you don’t have resources.”
The proposal would call for the state to come to an agreement with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, which would carry out the deportations. In Washington, there are about 350 prisoners who would be eligible to be transferred to ICE. On average, it costs the state $90 a day to imprison an inmate, Vail said.
It also includes allowing state workers to act as immigration agents in some instances, assisting ICE in processing illegal aliens under a version of the so-called 287(g) agreements, which are contentious among immigrant advocates.
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Categories: Deportation Abyss
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One small step it is! I’ll take it and hope for more.
Change (I hope)!
Change we can
believe inHOPE to spread to all 57 states.Can we now do that in CA? We would be back in the black in no time.
A start … maybe … but it begs answers to some questions …
Why limit the types of crimes for which the illegals have been convicted and are serving time? …
Why not also stop all of the welfare payments, food stamps, public housing and free medical care that illegals are receiving? …
Why not stop the unscrupulous businesses that are hiring the illegals and taking jobs from legal immigrants and American citizens? …
I am certain if we really tried we could find many other examples of illegal activities that are impacting the costs of everything in Washington state on a daily basis …
Guess we can hope someone is getting a clue …
A billion here, a billion there – pretty soon it starts to add up to real money.
Because we here in Texas (and the other border states) don’t want those felons back in our states when they re-cross the border. It’s bad enough to let burglars go, but we definitely don’t need their rapists and murderers.
Be still my heart!!! Pinch me, am I awake??? Maybe, just maybe OUR RECESSION is a means to eliminate the ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION problem… As more and more of there VOTING BLOCK lose their jobs, just maybe state GOVS and LEGISLATURES may start to realize that PEOPLE doing the jobs their AMERICAN CITIZENS won’t do, may be keeping AMERICAN CITIZENS unemployed…
Hear that, Gov. Schwarzenegger? California is going stone broke and a huge percentage of the problem could be solved by getting rid of the illegals…at least the convicted criminal ones! Of course, we would also need to fence the border and patrol it, so those same criminals don’t get back in!
txvet2 … exactly …
the article said
My question was why not assault, DUI, murder, etc., etc.? …
pueblo1032 … correct …
The economic situation has had an impact here in Arizona … many have gone back to Mexico because their jobs went away …
As a matter of fact the Mexican government has been complaining that they can’t handle the influx of people flooding back across the border …
Life does provide reality checks now doesn’t it.
TX has the death penalty so removal of violent illegals seems pretty straight forward.
The one sure way to ensure they never rape of kill again.
The gov obviously doesn’t realize that if the illegal aliens weren’t arrested in the first place, they wouldn’t have to spend any money on incarceration costs. Forget this 287 / ICE nonsense; the state of Washington would be a lot further ahead if they just ignored the crimes being committed. After all, the illegals come from cultures with different standards, so who are we to judge them?
/channelling lgm, edelweiss, and eaglehaslanded in a single comment in an attempt to prevent them from polluting the thread with their liberal moonbat rants so we can enjoy this “when pigs fly” moment.
We have had several murders, one of a policeman, by deported illegals returning. But Governor Gregoire’s proposal does merit trying–get caught again and do 20 years. We won’t be able to do so under Caliph Barack Hussein, Allah be Praised, BroBama but WE DO NEED to look at the cost of keeping bad guys in prison-illegal or home grown. THAT good people would be prison reform. We could have safe and sanitary prisons for a whole lot less than we are paying now WHEN we neuter some of these federal judges.
I imagine pig-flying would upset the Kenya Man.
You didn’t understand my answer. The reason we don’t want them deporting rapists and murderers is that they will be back in Texas (or another border state) before the bus that tranported them. Let Washington keep their own felons – we have plenty of them in our prisons already.
What they need to do is microchip the bastards, and finish the border fence (with a few small modifications), so that the criminals get the bejesus sapped out of them if they get within 500 feet of the border trying to get back.
Then we can go back and do the same thing to the types of people listed in post #4. Desert Lover nailed it.
Financial recessions do have some good benefits. I’ve come to the conclusion that our spoiled population won’t face up to personal responsibilities until they are forced to to do so. Time to grow up boys and girls.
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.
While I’d like to commend the Gov of the state to the north of me for this unusual glimmer of common sense, of course, the even more basic lesson in all this, is that WA state wouldn’t even have to deal with the problem had they joined the “enforcement-first” (and foremost) effort. If you have no illegal aliens in the population, then the opportunity to commit crimes would be proportionately reduced…
Also, unfortunately, there is even greater damage done to entire industries – in terms of worker’s wage rates, for example – is overshadowed by these rather high profile press releases. In the end, 10 million out of an annual budget of 10 billion is probably a token effort at best.
Ok, it’s a small step, and I’m glad…
PS. Pres. Bush, DHS Sec. Chertoff,
Pres-to-be Obama, New DHS Sec. Napolitano – where is REAL border security, anyway???
Don’t expect any under the next administration. You’re more likely to get amnesty and a repeat of Clinton’s Citizenship USA push, in spades.
txvet2: Yes, agree, I see your point.
I don’t care which administration delivers – so long as one does, and soon before it’s too late…
Step further, give all the convicts of the same ilk (drug/prop crime) an option to take the one way ticket to Mexico or points further south.
What we truly need is a real-cost analysis to the American citizen of what the illegal community is doing.
Government spending is only part of it and even then, we only look at one issue. In this case, the cost of incarceration. What about court costs, law enforcement expenses, hiring interpeters. How much is going to those who are not trying to break any additional laws (other than coming to the U.S. illegally)? Housing, welfare, medical, etc. are all additional drains on the government budget.
To the average citizen, you bear even more than the taxes to pay for that mentioned above. How about higher prices to make up for losses due to theft? Bet your car insurance is higher to pay for uninsured or underinsured motorists (haven’t seen that many illegals buy auto insurance lately). Health insurance is higher because hospitals have to recover money to cover the loss of all those emergency room visits that went unpaid.
The list goes on and on.
If we did not have the illegal problem in the first place, much of this could be avoided. Hey Congress! How about a real public works program…build and enforce a real border fence?
Wow! Someone in the People’s Republic of Western Washington has figured out how to address a fiscal crisis by finding a way to reduce spending. Yep! I just saw the flying pig fly past my window. As long as we are able to start throwing these illegal invaders out of my country it makes me happy. Now if we could find a way to keep them from coming back after we release them on their side of the border.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE (mo-lone lah-veh) Translation: Come and take them!
You nailed it…am I misreading, possibly some of these feel good, kool aide drinking guberment officials are actually seeing what is causing their financial crisis, liberalism? Naw, could happen.
My 1st question on the deporting is, “do we trust these scum bag law breakers to promise not to come back over the open boarder?” After all, they’ll just be right back…what’s the purpose, shift the problem from one place(Washington) to another(any other state)? That does look like a liberal solution to a problem, either misdirect the problem or pour money into it.
Not to mention the mess created by the many banks falling all over themselves 3 years ago publicly bragging about the mortgage services provided to the “undocumented”….and the limp-wristed actions by Bush/Chertoff regarding the Matricula Consular cards.
A Congress worth a d@mn would be holding hearings, and every bank involved in that fraud would be shut down, and their assets sold off to try cover the losses.
rightisright …
I would suggest we create a criminal immigrant database that includes deportee DNA for future screening and identification if they come back or to help identify involvement in any other crimes …
A link for cabrerski
Disclaimer and qualifier: the study linked in the above, is the study done by Robert Rector of Heritage Foundation. It does not specifically control for legal status, but focuses upon the effect of importing, en masse, large numbers of low-skill workers – eg. disproportionately represented by illegal aliens.
*If* his numbers are even ballpark close to reality, then the results are nothing short of total shock to the humble, law-abiding, tax-paying, American citizen and legal resident.
First of all, how dare a democrat/socialist use the term “illegal alien”. The new term is unrecorded residents.
Personally, I say we put the illegals on C-5s, C-130s, and C-17s and drop them off in Guatemala. (Open the back ramp at low altitude, followed by a quick climb.) Then when they try to cross Mexico’s southern border, they’ll find out just how their own country treats illegal aliens.
That would probably work, if they’re dropped off at the Santiago international airport..Chile.
Footnote and afterthought to my above post -
There is nothing so expensive as cheap imported and illegal labor.
cabrerski and Republicanvet
The following link provides some of the illegal impact and costs to the states with estimates for the next few years included that you were asking about …
What Jose Costs Taxpayers
“The Scarlet Letter” had a significant meaning, how about a dark blue “I” tattoo on their forehead for illegal, make it a little harder to hide in sanctuary cities.
I wonder if Gov. Arnold in Collyforneeeeea has read any of these statistics. Any governor, congressperson, President, etc. who is aware of these statistics should be shot for treason for not doing something about the problem.
happyscrapper the libs like Schwantznigger and all the other could care less about the costs…that’s all for the “better good”. Bastards.
I agree they should be impeached for no reason other than not preforming their main function as an elected official, protecting the citizenry.
But, if they know the costs, then they know why their state is going broke. Yet they beg for a bail out from the Feds rather than fix the actual problem. And, like the auto industry, if you don’t fix what caused the problem, you are doomed to continue on the same way. I just re-read what I wrote and realize…it doesn’t matter to the libs because they are just plain nuts. If they can’t even grasp a simple concept like that, they are beyond help. And thus, we are screwed unless we can get rid of all the libs and start over. Sigh…I can dream can’t I?
I don’t know what’s more of a “flying pigs” moment, a DEMOCRAT pushing to deport illegal aliens, or a DEMOCRAT proposing budget cuts and no tax increases.
PhredE and DesertLover,
Thanks for the links. Good info but it is all related to government costs (our taxes and fees). I am also interested how illegal immigration relates to higher costs in insurance, store prices, and other daily expenditures of the average citizen.
May not be pigs flying, but, monkeys are flying out my butt. Got to cut down on all that Mexican food. (urp!)
YES YOU CAN!
Last I heard it’s still America, primed for a refresher course in liberty but still free America.
My cousin and her husband “bailed out” of Kalifornia a few months ago. They lived there for 20 years–but couldn’t take the high taxes any more. They went to Las Vegas–no state income taxes.
***
Will the last taxpayer turn out the lights when they leave the Very Liberal States–with the trashed economies? And DON’T MOVE TO TEXAS–we don’t want the liberal ideas and taxes either!
***
John Bibb
It’s unfortunate that it takes a big financial mess to get government officials to do what they SHOULD BE DOING ALL ALONG! But I guess this is the silver lining of the sinking economy.
The good Governor of Washington STATE should send the criminal illegals to Washington DC since the Federal Government loves them so much. I think it is time that all the criminal aliens are mailed post haste to DC just intime for Congress to open. With the criminal crap sandwich they just fed us they will never notice a few more criminals.
Meanwhile those self-same illegal murderers and rapists in Washington State shoot and severely injure the husband of a member of the American Minutemen Project and a few days later the woman is attacked and raped in her home.
Good idea. One problem. They’ll be back in Washington before they even finish the paperwork. Until the border is closed, it’s just another “get out of jail free” card.