EXCLUSIVE — Oklahoma is undertaking a first-in-the-nation initiative emptying jails and prisons of criminal illegal immigrants by sending them directly to federal immigration authorities.

Over the past nine months, the state has developed a plan for turning over more than 500 locked-up criminals to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. It sounds like a simple task, but Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) has said he wants to cut through the red tape and, in some cases, sentences to save taxpayers money and get what President Donald Trump’s administration has referred to as the “worst of the worst” out of the state and country.