I want to comment on two different points, and this is mostly in response to all of the other follow-up posts to the main article:

1) Wards - a "ward of the state" is anyone taken into custody by the government. This includes recently arrested people who are taken into jail for something as petty as public intoxication, up to death row inmates. This does not matter if a person is in our country illegally or not. If they commit a crime in our country, then they are taken into custody as a ward of the state. Regardless if they are illegal or not, anyone within our country (with the exception of some diplomats), is subject to our Constitution and laws. This means that if you're in custody, whether it's a recent arrest and it's your first minute in a police vehicle, or you're a death row inmate in for life, you are under the care of the state by law. That means they have to feed you, clothe you, house you, allow you legal representation, provide you medical treatment, and protect you from any unlawful acts as if you were a law abiding citizen on the street. This is the cost a country must pay if they want to be considered a civilized, humane and moralistic society. There are many nasty countries in this world that will throw you into a cell without adequate food, water, clothing, and medical care, and just leave you until you die quickly or serve your time. Some don't even bother with prison or courts. It's just instant execution. How would the majority of you feel if you went to Mexico, you aren't a Mexican citizen, you're pulled over for speeding, and they either throw you into a notorious Mexican jail house or worse, just execute you on the side of the road. That's the beauty of the United States system of government and protecting it's people. Even when you screw up for the smallest thing and you're some little old lady, you are fully protected outside in the public free world, and by law you should be protected in custody as well, not just for your sake, but for the welfare of other inmates, and for the rehabilitation and future release of a criminal back into society some day.

So, for those of you out there that think because someone is illegal or committed a crime that they don't have constitutional rights, then you're completely wrong. Also, just remember that the same laws that accuse people of wrongdoing, also protect people from punishments beyond the breadth of the crime.

2) Mortality - You are some of the meanest, most hate-filled people I've ever heard. Sure people don't like their taxes going up because they have to pay for more and more prisoners, but you don't stop paying taxes because feel locked up people don't deserve it. Sure some prisoners deserve greater punishments than others, but who are some of you to say that all criminals whether they're citizens or not don't deserve anything?? Would you rather just instantly execute every breaker of the law to save a few bucks? What would you want next, no fire squad, lethal injection, gas chamber, electric chair because it costs too much to kill people that way? Do you want to just whack them over the head with a mallet you can use over and over? At what point does it cost too much to buy the mallet? Maybe you just want to throw all the criminals in together and just let them kill each other with their hands. No costs to that, right?? Oh wait, isn't that what our states already do illegally? All of those gladiator farms and ass-rape cities?

Some of you need to lighten up about your concerns of spending tax dollars on law&order. It helps you and it helps the person inside, everyone is happy, you're protected, and the criminals are locked up nicely and should be rehabilitated.

For those of you that think that illegals should be instantly deported, so as not to suck our legal system dry, where do you draw the line of instant deportation? Is it only for petty offenders or all of them? Who's to say an illegal who breaks the law just for being here illegally and nothing else, gets the same equal deportation treatment as an M-13 rapist-killer? Where do you draw that line? You can't send a murderer-rapist back to their home country without paying any penalty in ours. Otherwise, every country in the world would be sending illegals to America having them assassinate people, they get caught, and you want them instantly deported?

The old maxim that "Time is money" is very true in our legal system. If we as US citizens want to take a criminal's time, then it's going to cost us money. If you want to save your money, then you can't afford to take away someone's liberty of time.