Oregon Public Broadcasting

It's something Arizona has done for years. Now Washington and Oregon are gearing up to deport illegal immigrant inmates to save on prison costs.

The plan is to release non-violent offenders early and hand them over to federal immigration officials for a one-way ticket home. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

In Washington, the early deportation program was first proposed by Governor Chris Gregoire. She estimated it could save $9 million in prison costs over the next two years.

That remains to be seen. But Washington's Department of Corrections is moving ahead with the program.

The DOC's Scott Blonien says his agency has identified an initial group of 50 to 70 candidates for early release.

Scott Blonien: “They're going to be deported anyway. And so it's just a matter of deporting them earlier so that the state can realize some savings in the cost of their incarceration.”

Before inmates are deported the judge and prosecutor in the case need to sign-off.

Then the offenders will meet with an immigration lawyer to be advised of their rights. If the inmate agrees not to fight deportation, the early release process will begin.

Oregon is starting a similar program for illegal immigrant offenders with less than six months to go on their sentence.

The state hopes to save $2 million dollars over two years.

We checked with the Idaho Department of Correction. That state does not have a program to deport illegal immigrant prisoners early.