tucsoncitizen.com
WASHINGTON - Hundreds of state and local governments, including Pima County's, may lose federal dollars to help defray the cost of jailing illegal immigrants
Congress left town last week to campaign for the Nov. 5 elections without reaching an agreement with the Bush administration on funding a Justice Department program that provided $546 million last year to the states.
All 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, including Guam, have shared in the federal dollars distributed through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program since 1995.
California, New York, Texas, New Jersey and Arizona got the bulk of the federal money. California received $220 million, about 40 percent of the total.
Congress and the administration are far apart on a compromise. The administration wants to kill the program. Lawmakers want funding increased to $750 million for fiscal 2003, which began Oct. 1.
Lawmakers, especially those from border states, have long argued that it is the federal government's responsibility to reimburse states because it is charged with securing the nation's borders.
"When the federal government falls short in its efforts to control illegal immigration, it must bear the responsibility for the financial and human consequences of this failure," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
But Bush administration officials argue that the program is not directly related to fighting crime and doesn't "advance the core mission of the Justice Department."
Posted by Suzanne at October 26, 2002