One Washington County jail inmate has been turned over to ICE and four more are in the process of being turned over for deportation.
County Commissioner Nick Sherman says taxpayers can't afford to food, house and provide medical care to inmates who don't belong in the United States.
He says Every penny in the County budget is valuable.
“We can’t make cuts in aging services,” said Sherman. “We can’t make cuts in children and youth services. So, you look at where can we trim some fat and I think this is a good example. Instead of incarcerating these people for lengthy periods of time that is very, very expensive, we need to get these people out of the country so we can get the resources to people that need them, which is United States citizens.”
The inmate who was surrendered to ICE earlier this week was serving time for aggravated assault. He's not sure of the others.
"Last year, the Washington County Correctional Facility released 2,178 incarcerated persons into the county…. of those, less than five were undocumented and sent to ICE. Last week, we booked five incarcerated individuals who face deportation once criminal due process has been completed,” Sherman said in a release on Tuesday.
The one inmate released to ICE has been identified as Jose Turcios Salmeron, of El Salvador.