The warden of the Cambria County Prison said he reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to let them know the Cambria County Prison is willing to accept more illegal immigrants because it will help bring in more revenue to the county.
In the past two weeks, the number of illegal immigrants being housed at the Cambria County Prison is nearly ten times what it was in 2016. After President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Warden Christian Smith said he was expecting the spike.
“With the new presidential administration in place, we expected an increase in ICE arrests, immigration arrests. We reached out to our immigration officials and told them that we would be willing to take on more detainees if they were able to provide them.,” said Christian Smith, the warden at Cambria County Prison.
The prison receives $70 a day for each illegal immigrant. Housing 50 illegal immigrants a day for a year would make the prison $1.27 million annually. However, the warden said there could potentially be even more prisoners.
“We’re currently at 71 today. That number could be larger. I’m expecting a constant flow between 50 and 60, possibly higher, because immigration is looking for beds on a regular basis,” Smith said.
Temporary housing was set up in the prison’s gymnasium with beds, restrooms, showers, a TV and other necessities. Warden Smith said he saw this as an opportunity to help bring in revenue to cut the prison’s $9.5 million budget.
“It definitely makes an impact on the budget. We’re one of the largest, if not the largest, departmental budgets in the county. So any increase in revenue to offset that is a definite benefit to the taxpayer,” Smith said.
The warden said he doesn’t plan to hire more workers because they have enough staff to handle the increase in prisoners.