24 Foreign Criminals Deported to Make Space in Florida Prisons
Florida sent home 24 foreign criminals on Wednesday, the first group of immigrant inmates deported to free up space in the state’s prisons.
The prisoners were granted clemency and then put on planes home under an agreement between the state and Washington.
“If I keep them here, then I’m having to turn out a violent Floridian or U.S. citizen,” Gov. Lawton Chiles said.
Fifteen men in handcuffs and street clothes were paraded single file in front of the governor and reporters, then taken to the airport. Nine women prisoners were processed separately.
Half of the first group came from Colombia; the rest were from the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Honduras, Peru, Mexico and Nicaragua. All were drug offenders who were serving sentences ranging from three to 15 years.
The criminals receive clemency in exchange for agreeing to be deported and never to return. That means they do not have to be jailed in their homelands. The deportations involve only nonviolent offenders.
If the prisoners return to the United States, they will be subject to federal charges for returning illegally and will be sent back to prison. They also will lose credit for any time they served before they were deported.
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