Seeing the light.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger floated a novel, if unofficial, proposal Monday that could save the state $1 billion – build and operate prisons in Mexico to house undocumented inmates.
“We pay them to build the prisons down in Mexico and then we have those undocumented immigrants be down there in a prison. … And all this, it would be half the cost to build the prisons and half the cost to run the prisons,” Schwarzenegger told the Sacramento Press Club, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.
Schwarzenegger predicted the savings could reach $1 billion, which could be spent on higher education.
According to the report, about 19,000 of the state’s 171,000 prisoners are illegal immigrants. California spends more than $8 billion a year incarcerating felons. But it remains to be seen whether the governor’s remarks represent a legitimate policy proposal. Spokesman Aaron McLear told the Chronicle the comments didn’t represent a concrete plan, but “a concept somebody mentioned to him.” He also didn’t say where Schwarzenegger came up with the $1 billion estimate.
Matthew Cate, the secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the department was not pursuing any such proposal.
The idea quickly drew criticism.