Panel considers early release for jailed illegal immigrants
By DARA KAM

Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

TALLAHASSEE — As many as 5,000 illegal immigrants locked up in Florida prisons could get out early and be deported under a measure a Senate committee approved Monday.

If the proposal became law, the state could save about $15 million, said Sen. Mike Bennett, sponsor of the bill (SB 1066).

The plan would allow non-violent prisoners to serve a minimum of 50 percent of their sentences and then be deported to their country of origin. All prisoners in Florida now must serve a minimum of 85 percent of their sentences.

Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials found that, under similar agreements, New York officials saved nearly $140 million between 2005 and 2007, and Arizona officials saved $13 million in prison costs.

The proposal would save money not only for prison bed costs but also for guards and probation officers in an era when Florida is anticipating a need to build 8,000 additional prison beds at a cost of about $450 million, Bennett said.

"Every one of these people is getting deported anyway" after their sentences are completed, he said.

Corrections officials contend the savings for the state would be far less than Bennett's estimate because about one-third of the illegal immigrants behind bars here are Cubans and cannot be deported to their homeland.

And, they say, nearly 60 percent of illegal immigrant inmates are serving sentences for violent crimes, making them ineligible for the program. Also, in order to be deported, the prisoners' countries of origin as well as the inmates themselves would have to agree to the deportations.

Department of Corrections officials estimate that fewer than 1,000 inmates would be eligible for the program. The Parole Commission would have to recommend inmates for early release, but there is no way to predict how many would be approved.

Opponents of the measure, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Alex Villalobos, argue that it would provide an incentive for drug traffickers to hire illegal immigrants to deal in drugs because they would be eligible to serve shorter sentences.

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