Texan prisoners clamour to leave US
Published:Thursday | October 13, 2011 | 12:00 AM
TEXAS (AP):
Texas convicts who once couldn't wait to sneak into the United States are now clamouring to get tossed out as quickly as possible.
State officials say the turnabout is due to a state law that took effect September 1, to entice the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to parole increasing numbers of foreign citizens, as long as they are deported. The law was aimed at saving taxpayers money in a tight budget year by not having to house foreign-born inmates.
In all, about 11,500 foreign-born prisoners are among the 154,000 convicts serving time in Texas' 111 state prisons, according to officials.
Send them all home, and the state could save more than $200 million.
"It's amazing how quickly some people can change their mind about being in this country when they might be able to use it to get out of prison, isn't it?" said Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, who wrote the new law.