For some jailed illegal immigrants, early release, with a catch (Providence Journal)

For some jailed illegal immigrants, early release, with a catch

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, September 10, 2008
By Tom Mooney
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE, RI — If you’re an illegal immigrant serving time for a nonviolent crime and facing deportation, Rhode Island has a deal for you:

Agree to return to your home country and the Parole Board may release you early from prison.
But if you break the deal and return to the United States, you could be looking at 20 more years in prison.

Governor Carcieri announced yesterday that the state Department of Corrections and the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement have signed an agreement in principle that Carcieri said he hopes will prevent some illegal immigrants from slipping through the fingers of law enforcement once snared.

“There is no question in my mind that we have had people who were incarcerated [who] were illegal … that were then paroled back into the community and committing crimes again,â€