California Prisons Crisis Results in Policy Change on Parole Violators

The L.A. Times (and here) reports that California will no longer imprison immigrant parole violators for unlawfully reentering the United States.  Past policy was for the state to keep them on parole after deportation and incarcerate them for four to eight months for violating their parole by reentering the country illegally. But, because of overcrowded prisons and the need to save money, in a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and in a news conference, California corrections chief Matt Cate said now when illegal immigrants are released from state prison and given to federal authorities for deportation, they will automatically be discharged from parole. Cates emphasized that the federal government should prosecute illegal immigrants who return to the country after deportation because that is a federal crime.

KJ