Try faster deportations, and much more

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By lansingstatejournal.com

Published: 04/24/2009

A couple of obvious points about a proposal to accelerate deportations of foreign nationals now in Michigan prisons:

Saving $9 million isn't much when the state's Corrections Department has a $2 billion budget and the state itself is staring at deficits in the hundreds of millions.
Still, if accelerated deportations can thin Michigan's prison ranks, they're worth a try.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm says she's OK with a plan to change the rules on when an imprisoned foreign national can be turned over to the feds for deportation. Under legislation sponsored by Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Salem, deportees could go after serving only half their minimum sentence. Now, they have to serve their minimum sentence before Michigan will release them for deportation.

Smith, who chairs the House subcommittee that handles prison funding, thinks the shift could save $9 million. Her bill, the Associated Press reports, is based on similar programs in New York and Arizona, which have seen their own savings.

Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, is Smith's Senate counterpart on corrections. He said he looked into the idea, but wasn't sure it would work smoothly.
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