PORTLAND, Ore. -- A deal with federal officials to deport Oregon prison inmates who have less than six months left on their sentences if they are in the United States illegally is finally moving ahead after a slow start.

The state hopes to save more than $2 million by sending the inmates back to their home countries, in this case, mostly to Mexico.

The early deportation program was part of a broad cost-saving corrections package approved by the Legislature last year.

The state expected to start saving money before the end of the year. But a legal glitch delayed the agreement.