Posted on 08/26/2011 10:10:53 PM PDT by quantim
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for nearly $350 million to cover the costs he says Texas has incurred incarcerating illegal immigrants in state prisons and county jails.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Perry reiterated a claim he's often leveled against the federal government: that it's not doing enough to secure the border with Mexico and as a result, has allowed illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. and use taxpayer-funded resources, including the prison system.
The letter was dated Aug. 10, three days before the Republican governor formally announced he is running for president.
Reached after-hours Friday by phone, DHS spokesman Matthew Chandler said he wasn't in position to comment and said he could not confirm that the DHS had even received the letter.
Perry has been criticized by some fellow conservatives as being too lenient on illegal immigration issues. Unlike fellow GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann, Perry does not think the U.S. should build a wall spanning the entire Mexican border. Perry also has supported discounted tuition rates for the children of illegal immigrants at Texas universities, and he has said Arizona's tough-on-immigration law wouldn't be right for Texas.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
We know Jan Brewer hasn’t - there is no mistaken her views on our Constitution/The Law of The Land.
I smiled when I read this today. Good for Texas!
Good news. Now he should start building a big fence and bill the Feds again.
Texans don’t want anymore fence than we already have. We need the Rio Grande for our farmers and ranchers, and it’s civilization where they cross anyway. Any Texan that knows anything about our border knows a fence will not work here.
What we need is a federal government that will POLICE our border with proper manpower, as Perry requests at least annually, and a federal government that will DEPORT illegals, as Perry requests at least annually.
Movie star good looks. It’s going to be nice looking at him in the White House.
BALLS OF STEEL!
Land mines on the border. (With sufficient signage of course, in Spanish.)
And Perry for president?
Good points. I stand corrected.
Is Perry really weak on immigration?
Perry opposes a border fence. He prefers open borders.
Rick is supposed to be the one in a dress.
I agree.
If we had a short border, it might work. But as long as our border is a fence could be breached or tunnelled under. There would be no way to monitor every mile, every minute of the day.
Aside from the Rio Grande issues, there are areas that a fence really couldn’t be built due to terrain.
My thoughts...make it so difficult to get a job or housing they self deport. Repeal the “anchor baby” provision.
He has really not weighed in except to say that “until our borders are secured, rational discussion on immigration cannot be held.” Lots of lies on this board about him. He isn’t for amnesty or anything of the sort. You’ll have to do your research or be patient and he will explain where he stands. Watch out for people like Tempest and others. Malicious lies coming from some of them, mostly Paulbots, but also some deranged Palinistas that really hate Perry.
Uh oh. Not good.
Is Perry for NAFTA and the Mexican trucks driving up into the United States?
Yes, he is. He’s for jobs.
You’ve heard of the trans texas corridor haven’t you?
A picture is oft’ times worth a million words.
Whose jobs?
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