Thank you, La Gubernadora! Now the MSM has to begin to report on some of the hidden costs of illegal immigration - the coroner, for crying out loud? Who'd a thunk it....?
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."
The insanity continues -- why is the government (stupid question, I know) not just SEALING THE BORDER??? Yet we continue to pander to illegal, law-breaking criminals as if they deserved it....
More stats on costs of "cheap labor" ping.
How clueless; such a pittance given the nature of the invasion. Yet, all the gov would have to do is enforce existing laws and she wouldn't have to steal more taxpayer money.
Perhaps simply documenting them then transporting the illegal person (s) back to central Mexico. Sending them back is cheaper in the long run rather than incarcerate them in the U.S. for days and weeks on the tax payer's tit. Filling one C1-40 should not be a problem - whether Mexico would allow planes to land is a problem. However, those involved in drug smuggling should not be given parachutes.
"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. "
Not to mention the murderers and drug dealers who don't go gently to the jail.....and Bush does nothing. Heck, he doesn't even admit what is going on.
Fine the illegals $500 (the coyotes $50,000) and have them work off their fine, as well as food and lodging charges, at the prevailing minimum wage rate - then deport 'em.
They want a better life? Let them start by cleaning up the place so it will look nicer and be healthier the next time they sneak across the border.
Thank you, La Gubernadora! Now the MSM has to begin to report on some of the hidden costs of illegal immigration - the coroner, for crying out loud? Who'd a thunk it....?
What people fail to focus on, is that services to U.S. citizens must be cut back an equal amount to provide the service to the illegals. Finances are finite. Spend more here, spend less there.
Google "Fox/Hurricane Katrina" and you'll get to read the front page of El Universal in which Vicente Fox tells all the illegals to feel free to access all the aid they can get in the affected areas because the Border Patrol won't be policing aid stations. He certainly doesn't want them all coming back to Mexico, and the aid checks will let them keeping wiring that $18 Billion back to keep his inept country afloat. So our citizens will have less disaster relief to divide among themselves because we have tens of thousands of illegals helping themselves to the FEMA and charity funds. The only thing on Mexico's mind in this crisis is helping themselves. What lousy, rotten neighbors we are stuck with. Just SHAMEFUL.
A wall would be cheaper and more effective.
Bookmark
Close the darns borders!
Washington..... are you listening?
The traffic *alone* is driving me mad.
I live in an area where the traffic is nearly gridlockeded 5 hours a day. Every single &%#&#%$ day!
And this government just sits back and watches this insanity?
If we took the 4 million illegals off the streets California, our highways and fwys would again be functioning again.
We have friends in Denver, Dallas, and Phoenix, it's all the same! What is this government thinking? Do they not use our roads and highways?
What is wrong with them? Why are they punishing us? Are they plain crazy?
Don't ask just send a daisy cutter.
omg
Shows you the truth of the paradoxical Portuguese proverb: "Dear is cheap, and cheap is dear."
Same where I live in Southern California. It's all the added people from illegal immigration, who---poor things!---somehow manage to get themselves nice trucks and SUVs. That's a "cost," for damn sure. And all that extra traffic isn't exactly keeping the roads in pristine condition, and we'll have to pay eventually for the road repairs, rather than the traitorous scofflaw scum that hired these illegals.
'Course maybe sooner than that, some unsecured item will fly off an "unsafe load" an illegal is hauling on the freeway, as happened to an acquaintance here in LA who was permanently injured as a result, or one'll be broadsided by an uninsured drunken illegal, as happened to a kid of my acquaintance, who died.
But that's nothing compared to the fact that we have lettuce for our salads thanks to "undocumented workers." [/bitter sarcasm]
No more votes, no more donations to open borders politicians!
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