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From today’s Free Press online edition
April 26, 2006
By DAWSON BELL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
More than 700 foreign nationals are confined in Michigan prisons, including 138 who could be deported in short order at substantial savings to state taxpayers, according to a report released Wednesday by a prison watchdog group.
The Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending report, using Department of Corrections data, found 731 foreign nationals in Michigan prisons as of Feb. 3.
Of those, 138 have served their minimum terms and most of them could be turned over to immigration authorities and deported if granted parole.
Some who are not parole eligible also could be deported to countries that have treaty agreements with the U.S., the report said. At an average annual cost of about $30,000 for Michigan prisoners, the savings to taxpayers could be substantial, said Barbara Levine, CAPPS executive director.
“We need to ask ourselves whether Michigan taxpayers have anything to gain by continuing to imprison non-citizens who might just as easily, and far more cheaply, be returned to their countries of origin,” Levine said.
Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said state officials regularly review prison rosters for deportable foreign nationals.
But deportation is not an option for many because Michigan’s sentencing rules are often at odds with those of a convict’s home country, he said.
Marlan said some prisoners, deported to their home countries to complete a sentence, have been released and found their way back to Michigan.
Foreign nationals in state prisons could be deported to save money
April 26, 2006
By DAWSON BELL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
More than 700 foreign nationals are confined in Michigan prisons, including 138 who could be deported in short order at substantial savings to state taxpayers, according to a report released Wednesday by a prison watchdog group.
The Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending report, using Department of Corrections data, found 731 foreign nationals in Michigan prisons as of Feb. 3.
Of those, 138 have served their minimum terms and most of them could be turned over to immigration authorities and deported if granted parole.
Some who are not parole eligible also could be deported to countries that have treaty agreements with the U.S., the report said. At an average annual cost of about $30,000 for Michigan prisoners, the savings to taxpayers could be substantial, said Barbara Levine, CAPPS executive director.
“We need to ask ourselves whether Michigan taxpayers have anything to gain by continuing to imprison non-citizens who might just as easily, and far more cheaply, be returned to their countries of origin,” Levine said.
Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said state officials regularly review prison rosters for deportable foreign nationals.
But deportation is not an option for many because Michigan’s sentencing rules are often at odds with those of a convict’s home country, he said.
Marlan said some prisoners, deported to their home countries to complete a sentence, have been released and found their way back to Michigan.
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