Tucson lawmaker brings concerns of Southern Arizona sheriffs to Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today called on the leaders of the House panel overseeing criminal justice legislation to fund the federal program that reimburses state and local governments for incarcerating illegal immigrants convicted of felonies.
Speaking from Washington via video teleconference to sheriffs from Southern Arizona, Giffords said she and other members of the state's congressional delegation agree that failure to fund the program imposes an unfair financial burden on border states and counties.
“Given the increasing importance of local law enforcement personnel to the homeland security and immigration enforcement mission, this is simply unacceptable,” Giffords said.
According to law enforcement agencies, Pima County is currently reimbursed for only three percent of the costs of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens and Cochise County is reimbursed for only nine percent of the costs. In addition, over the past several years the costs to local and state governments has exceeded reimbursement by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Giffords and her Arizona colleagues want the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) to receive the full funding that has been authorized: $950 million. Unless Congress specifically mandates that the authorized amount is funded, local governments will continue to incur extra costs.
Under SCAAP, the federal government must either take criminal aliens into federal custody or reach an agreement to compensate state and local jurisdictions for their incarceration. The program, however, has been underfunded since its inception. President Bush's proposed budget for the 2008 fiscal year does not include funding for SCAAP - it was zeroed out.
Giffords believes this places a significant financial burden on local law enforcement, stretching their resources and hampering their ability to protect our communities and uphold the law.
In a letter to U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan and Rodney Frelinghuysen, the chairman and ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, Giffords and five fellow Arizona lawmakers wrote that failure to fund SCAAP hampers the ability of local law enforcement authorities “to protect our communities and uphold the law.”
In addition to Giffords, the letter was signed by Reps. Ed Pastor, Trent Franks, Raul Grijalva, Rick Renzi, and Harry Mitchell.
During the teleconference meeting today, Giffords informed sheriffs that the goal of the letter was to encourage the Appropriations Committee to make full-funding for SCAAP a priority. March 16th is the deadline in the House of Representatives for all appropriations requests.
Giffords also is working with Southern Arizona leaders, members of Congress from other border communities, Governor Janet Napolitano, and national law enforcement agencies to continue pushing for full funding of SCAAP.
Attendees of today's video teleconference meeting included: Sheriffs Clarence Dupnik of Pima County, Tony Estrada of Santa Cruz County and Larry Dever of Cochise County, as well as representatives from the Governor's Office, Pima County Attorney's Office, Border Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Arizona Department of Corrections and several business leaders concerned about immigration.
Giffords said that she and other members of Congress are working to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that addresses all aspects of the immigration crisis now confronting the country - including full funding for SCAAP.
“This is not going to be a piecemeal effort,” the Tucson lawmaker said. “This is a total overhaul of our immigration laws.”
Giffords has said that to be effective, Congress must pass immigration reform legislation that:
- Bolsters border security;
- Increases the number of Border Patrol agents;
- Imposes sanctions on employers who knowingly hire illegal workers; and
- Institutes a guest worker program that allows people to enter the country to work and then return to their home country.