You learn something new every day.

I’ve always assumed when some “undocumented” immigrant got into trouble with the law, they were deported back to wherever it is from which they came. Shouldn’t that be SOP? Why should we spend millions upon millions housing, clothing, feeding, offering free health care… etc., to lawbreakers – especially those that are in this country illegally?

Calif. looks to immigrant inmates to save costs

Associated Press — With California slipping into a financial sinkhole, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to save more than $180 million by cutting short the sentences of thousands of immigrants in the state’s prisons and turning them over to federal authorities for deportation.

The idea faces certain hurdles — for one thing, commuting some sentences will require court approval — and immigration authorities warn that a mass release of inmates from California and other states could swamp the federal system, which is already at capacity.

But Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Lisa Page said: “Every dollar not spent to house an undocumented immigrant inmate is a dollar that can be spent on health care services and education and other important programs to Californians. These inmates are the federal government’s responsibility and California taxpayers shouldn’t be paying the bill.”