Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. you know. immigration is probably the signature Federal policy issue. Try as they might. States simply cant. fix failures in Federal immigration policy on their own. But when we fall down on the job. States. cities and counties bear the burden for an immigration system that simply doesnt work. While Congress is working on a comprehensive solution to our broken immigration system. we must not forget about the local governments who are paying an extremely high cost as a result of our inaction. In 1994. Congress passed the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. SCAAP. to reimburse States and localities for the arrest and incarceration and transportation costs associated with criminal aliens. averting a tidal wave of expenses that could have overwhelmed the State and local budg6ts. However. in 2003. the Department of Justice reinterpreted the SCAAP statute and caused a drastic drop in every States reimbursement. Now States no longer receive reimbursements unless. first. the criminal alien is convicted of a criminal felony and two misdemeanors. and. second. the arrest and conviction occur in the same year. To add insult to injury. President Bush has zeroed out SCAAP in his budget proposals for the last 6 years. This means that State and local governments are left to pick up the tab. Every dollar reduction in SCAAP reimbursements means one less dollar that law enforcement agencies have to hire new officers. provide essential training. make critical equipment purchases and detain other. perhaps more violent. inmates. Following the SCAAP funding cuts in 2003. the LA County Sheriffs Department implemented a new earlyrelease policy for inmates convicted of misdemeanors. This means the neighborhoods I represent in Southern California are at risk. Sadly. these communities are not alone. Across the country. the SCAAP reimbursement cuts have had a domino effect. where funding for antigang activities. homicide investigations. antiterrorism activities and even basic .maintenance is cut to pay for expenses associated with incarcerating criminal aliens and suspected criminal aliens. As Arizona county supervisors recently stated. "This is a huge problem because we cant keep up with fixing roads. the other costs of law enforcement. and keeping up with health agencies." While this bill on its own wont solve the fiscal crisis many States now face. it will help in the long term by covering a greater share of costs that properly belonged to the Federal Government. H.R. 1512 amends the SCAAP statute so that States and localities can be reimbursed for the cost of incarcerating aliens who are either charged with or convicted of a felony or two misdemeanors. just like it was before the DOJs reinterpretation in 2003. This Federal investment will allow State and local law enforcement agencies to devote more resources to important public safety programs. Law enforcement agencies and coalitions from all over the country. including the U.S.-Mexico Border Counties Coalition. the National Association of Counties. the California State Association of Counties. the Sheriffs Association of Texas and the Virginia Sheriffs Association support this bipartisan legislation. Lastly. I want to offer thanks and gratitude to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for passing this bill unanimously through the Judiciary Committee and for bringing it to the floor today without any amendments. We may not agree on many aspects of immigration policy. but this bill accomplishes a larger goal. making our community safer. For that reason. I appreciate your support. I urge my colleagues to support their local law enforcement agencies by voting for this bill.