Posted on 09/03/2005 7:25:35 AM PDT by Borax Queen
The bills aren't all in yet, but the costs of dealing with illegal immigration are running more than three times the emergency $1.5 million Gov. Janet Napolitano has agreed to send to Southern Arizona, officials of four border counties said Friday.
Expect at least a $5 million tab over the next six months to a year for law enforcement, accident response, trash cleanup, health care and autopsy cases involving illegal immigrants, say officials of Pima, Cochise, Santa Cruz and Yuma counties. Pima County expects to spend $2 million in illegal immigrant-related matters in the next six months.
Yuma County says it spends $2.2 million each year on jailing illegal immigrants and currently receives only $200,000 in federal aid in compensation. Cochise County says it needs $800,000 to $1 million in help to deal with illegal immigration. Santa Cruz County says its tab is at least $100,000.
On Tuesday, the Pima County Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to seek emergency help from the state and federal governments and whether to proclaim an "Arizona-Mexico International Border Security Emergency Affecting Pima County."
County officials hope that their huge immigration-related costs will convince the governor that she needs to take a step beyond her own emergency declaration last month and to ask the federal government to declare a national emergency.
The expectation is that a declaration would quickly open the door for more federal help, said Patti Woodcock, community relations officer for the county Health Department.
But it may be harder now because of Hurricane Katrina, she said.
"Not to minimize what we're experiencing here, but when you look at the devastation, property damage and loss of life over there, we're not as bad off," Woodcock said.
The Governor's Office hasn't ruled out seeking future federal help, but a spokeswoman said Friday that the time isn't ripe "just yet" for a request for a federal emergency declaration.
"The governor fully expected that the $1.5 million is inadequate for county needs," said Pati Urias, Napolitano's deputy communications director. "But it is an initial amount that counties will be able to begin to tap into as they apply for funding. Options are being explored. Many things are being looked at. There could be further emergency declarations in the future."
County officials will turn in complete figures to the state by mid-September, in hopes of getting additional help, including funds from a federal declaration of national border emergency requested by Napolitano.
Help is needed for a variety of costs, officials said, including:
-Paying for costs to jail illegal entrants accused of crimes.
-Paying to respond to reports of crimes by or against illegal entrants.
-Alleged kidnapping cases, in which people saying they are immigrants report being held by smugglers for ransom.
-Accidents involving vans or other large vehicles carrying groups of illegal entrants.
-Recovery and autopsies of illegal entrants found dead in the desert.
-Picking up trash left behind by illegal entrants crossing the desert.
In Yuma County, officials said of 125 jail inmates last weekend, more than half were Mexican nationals. And in Santa Cruz County, 60 to 70 percent of the inmates were there on drug charges, said Sheriff Tony Estrada.
County officials also must deal with illegal entrants who are hurt, are engaged in suspicious activities, are trespassing or are sick, lost or dead, he said.
The vast majority of illegal border crossers are only looking to better their lives, but about 5 to 10 percent represent a criminal element and cause a great deal of problems, said Pima County Sheriff's Department Capt. Frank Duarte. Most crimes involving entrants in Pima County occur in the Ajo area, on a path along Asarco's Silverbell Mine northwest of Tucson and in the Green Valley, Amado and Arivaca areas south and southwest of Tucson, he said.
In the town of Marana northwest of Tucson, police sporadically must deal with cases in which smugglers take illegal immigrants to vacant "drop houses," leave them there for several hours and then pick them up later, said Marana Police Chief Richard Vidaurri. In a case about one month ago, town police arrested a smuggler who had brought in some immigrants after chasing him through the cotton fields on the town's northwest edge.
While immigration is a federal problem, he said it's a collective responsibility for agencies of all affected governments to deal with related issues and problems.
"It's unfair to say it's one particular entity's problem," Vidaurri said. "We're all affected in one way or another."
And so would our schools, our hospitals, our social services system... we might even be able to pull our state out of bankruptcy!
From your lips to our governments plugged ears.
100% of illegal aliens represent a lawbreaker element.
"(in another thread Bayourod claimed each illegal alien farmworker creates as many as 10 jobs!)"
WHAT? Dang, I missed that one! Do me a favor, please send me the link to that one, I GOTTA add that to the tribute page!
BTW, swampy's been pretty quiet since yesterday morning. Knowing him and his kind heart, he's probably busy helping all the hurricane refugees in the Astrodome right now...
c
Because big business wants them here.
I'm looking to better our lives by removing the 10 - 20 million criminal aliens living in our midst. What - but wait, what I think doesn't matter?!
oh man, 3 cases of that exotic tuberculosis would wipe out that sum.
Sure it would be cheaper. California's tit alone is drying up with the 10 billion these suckers cost us every single year.
The Mexico Express would be a good business for some aspiring entrepeneur to start up, and it could do the job a LOT cheaper, since OUR OWN GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO ACT.
I'll bet there are thousands of retired pilots who would love to fly again for a good cause and a good salary. America could save BILLIONS each year.
What contest are these "entrants" entering? If it's Publisher's Clearing House, Ed McMahon can handle it.
bump for later read
Can you post the page of El Universal you referenced? All I get when I google Fox/Hurricane Katrina is a lot of hits commenting on Fox News coverage of the hurricane. Thanks.
Well, it's true - from the social services workers to the hospital/medical facility's staff and right down to law enforcement and detention personnel and the construction workers building the new jails and schools because they're overcrowded. The back side to all those jobs created is the US taxpayer pays the full tab.
"Well, it's true - from the social services workers to the hospital/medical facility's staff and right down to law enforcement and detention personnel and the construction workers building the new jails and schools because they're overcrowded..."
Outstanding point. Bail bondsmen, coroners, oh and lets not forget the lawyers. When al Qaeda comes through the southern border and nukes a few cities think of all the construction jobs that will be created, good for gravediggers too.
Unfortunately though, those are jobs that'll be filled by border-hoppers because they'll most likely be the jobs Americans CAN'T do.
I would agree with him, to a point. The illegal certainly does his part.
1. more border patrol
2. more welfare workers
3. interpreters
4. more interpreters
5. land developers to build colonias
6. immigration lawyers
7. Lulac, LaRaza, SPLC flunkees
8. shills for the open border lobby
9. police officers
10. court clerks to handle the crime cases
Probably more than 10. Was he assuming to tell us this is a good deal for the rest of us?
This is quite true. I've driven past the fields and seen tons of SUVs. Also, someone I know said that she has seen their families coming for free food in their SUVs.
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