More Federal Aid Sought For Keeping Illegal Aliens
Fifteen years after Congress promised that Washington would help states pick up the tab for imprisoning illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, California is receiving but a fraction — less than 12 cents on the dollar — of its nearly $1-billion annual cost. Story from the Los Angeles Times.
Officials from states greatly affected by illegal immigration long have argued that their taxpayers should not have to bear the burden for Washington’s failure to control the border. But Congress this year provided $400 million nationwide to cover the cost of keeping illegal immigrants behind bars, less than what was provided a decade ago …
California officials are stepping up their efforts to snag more money from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a letter to Washington lawmakers last week that boosting the funding the state receives under the program was his top priority for federal criminal justice funding …
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, when she was Arizona governor, was a leading advocate of boosting the program’s funding, telling Congress last year to “live up to its financial obligation” …
[California] — with about 19,000 illegal immigrants in prisons, or about 11% of the prison population — is projected to receive about $111 million of its $970-million expected cost this year for imprisoning illegal immigrants …
Boosting the funding has been difficult because the program is seen as largely benefiting a handful of states greatly affected by illegal immigration — California, New York, Texas, Florida and Arizona. Lawmakers from other states say that any increase must be balanced against other spending and the need to reduce the federal deficit. Bush, in seeking to eliminate the appropriation, argued that the funds would be better spent to secure the border. But other states increasingly are struggling to pay bills for housing illegal immigrants in state prisons and county jails. The Minnesota Department of Corrections, for example, spent about $19 million last year but received only about $1 million from Washington.
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