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Many people have heard the saying “War is the mother of all invention”, but I tend to think desperation works just as well. Only when you are backed into a corner and disaster looms inevitably ahead are you willing to consider the most creative solutions to the situation you’re in. As is the case in California, where possibly the worst state budget crisis in the country exists, and drastic cutbacks will be necessary to avoid bankruptcy. It looks like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has got his thinking cap on, and is listening to any money-saving proposal that comes across his desk. We’ve been critical of Gov. Schwarzenegger in the past (in the article Don’t Lay a Finger on my 40″ Plasma), but this time I think he deserves acknowledgement for promoting (or maybe even coming up with) a true Red Seat Idea.

Gov. Schwarzenegger has put forward a plan to send 20,000 illegal immigrant prisoners that are currently housed in California state prisons back to Mexico, and although he has the right to seek deportation for any person that is here illegally, that’s not what’s happening here (read the full story from the AFP here). There isn’t going to be a caravan of buses filled with Mexican criminals showing up at the border, but instead Gov. Schwarzenegger would like to give Mexico the money to build and operate a new prison for it’s citizens that have committed crimes on our soil. Is this genius? You decide. The first benefit of such a proposal is the cost savings. The Governor’s office put out a statement saying that this plan would save close to 1 Billion, because it would half the costs of building and running a prison in the U.S., and when you’ve got a budget deficit of 19.9 billion, every billion helps. The second benefit is that it eases the already overcrowded prison system in California which currently houses 70,000 prisoners over it’s intended capacity. The third foreseeable benefit is that when the prisoners sentences are complete, they are already in Mexico, and can be released into Mexico without any deportation costs or the risk of having them back on the streets of California right away, which can’t hurt the crime rate, and might save them from having to pay to house these prisoners all over again when they become repeat offenders (that would be Mexico’s problem). On a side note, I’m not naive enough to think that some of these inmates won’t make their way back into the U.S. after their release, but it’s still a much more equitable situation, for surely not all of them will, and the alternative is trusting the INS to do their job and send them back to Mexico after they’re released from a prison here. I like the idea of having all of them all start off back in Mexico, and we take our chances.

What’s in it for Mexico? Money and jobs. California gives them the money to build a prison that they get to keep, and that prison is staffed with Mexican citizens, which creates hundreds or maybe even a thousand jobs for a country that could sure use it. I doubt the Mexican government would pass up the opportunity for economic gain, and this could lead to more states trying this option in the future, which brings me to the most important point. This story has great national relevance, because although most states aren’t in as bad a shape as California, they’re on their way, and many more creative ideas will be needed to stem the tide. Maybe your state could implement a similar idea, or maybe something like this will inspire your state’s leaders to not be afraid of trying something unconventional. Either way, coming up with aggressive cost-cutting measures would be prudent in any state right now, before they end up in same hole that California currently resides in. It’s also the right thing for the people. If any level of government is spending tax dollars that it doesn’t need to, it’s stealing from it’s citizens, and in the end, hurting it’s own economy. Sound Familiar?

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