Deportation of criminals sought:

To save money, Washington state Gov. Chris Gregoire wants illegal immigrants serving time in state prisons deported. Her proposal estimates that deporting illegal immigrants who are serving or would serve time for drug or property-crime convictions would save the state more than $9 million in the next two-year budget. The deportation proposal is modeled after a program in Arizona that saved that state more than $18.5 million since 2005, said Eldon Vail, secretary of the Washington Department of Corrections. Gregoire's proposal represents a policy shift from a state that had largely stayed away from immigration enforcement. Washington, with its large agricultural industry, attracts a large number of undocumented workers, mostly from Mexico.

Compiled from news reports by Foreign Editor David Gaddis Smith: (619) 293-2211; david.smith@uniontrib.com

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... ndex=31285