Gov. Stitt weighs deportation of undocumented prison population

Newly reshaped immigration policies continue to ripple across the country, following a series of recent executive orders by President Trump.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt already indicated firm alignment with Trump's policies; previously directing the state's Commissioner of Public Safety in Nov. to kickstart an analysis of the eventual deportation of the state's undocumented and incarcerated people.

In Stitt's Nov. directive, he stated the commissioner would "consult with the Trump transition team and new director of Homeland Security to implement the plan upon President Trump’s inauguration."

When asked about the plan during a news conference on Wednesday, Stitt said he is still balancing what's required in order to deport that part of the prison population. Stitt estimated there are 536 undocumented people in Oklahoma's prisons, serving time for various crimes.

"We're not going to, across the board, release bad people without serving justice," Stitt said. "But, there are people that are at the end of their sentence, and they're about to get out. And historically, over the last four years, when we turn them over to ICE, nothing happened."

Stitt said his focus is anyone released to federal immigration law enforcement is actually deported, and not given the chance to reoffend.

"We're not going to let bad people out just to make a political statement," Stitt said, addressing the fact a commutation would be required for people who still have time left to serve on their sentences. But, he added, "But I am also thinking about the tens of millions of dollars that Oklahoma taxpayers are spending incarcerating people that really shouldn't be in our state anyway."

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections and Department of Public Safety declined to comment to News 9 about Stitt's comments.

Stitt said Commissioner Tim Tipton will be relying on President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, to execute Oklahoma's vision.