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Oct 30, 2002

Illegal aliens will be deported, not jailed

A new initiative by the Ministries of Home and Foreign Affairs is bringing some common sense to the problem of illegal immigration. Over the last two weeks around forty people charged with illegal entry have been removed from prison and deported to their home countries of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Today the latest batch of sixteen Hondurans was put on a southbound plane and thirty-one more will follow over the next few weeks. According to Home Affairs C.E.O. Alan Usher, the new deportation policy is a matter of simple economics: that is, a one way plane ticket is much cheaper than caring for a prisoner in Hattieville. The typical sentence for illegal entry is a thousand dollar fine or, in default, six months in prison. When a convicted immigrant is jailed, the cost of his stay is estimated at two thousand, one hundred and sixty dollars, while the average ticket to Honduras or El Salvador is around two hundred. In the case of Mexicans and Guatemalans, they are simply handed over to their respective authorities at the border. According to Usher, repeat offenders will be forced to do their jail time before being sent home.


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