OBAMA CUTS STATES' MONEY FOR ILLEGALS - BUT CAN'T SPEND ENOUGH FOR TERRORIST OVER IN IRAQ!

OBAMA, AND HIS LA RAZA DEMS, PELOSI, FEINSTEIN, BOXER and REID demand borders be left open, and cuts fed money to cover costs of OPEN BORDERS WITH NARCOMEX.



DOJ Awarded $324M to Subsidize Costs of Incarcerating Illegal Immigrants in FY2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
By Edwin Mora

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More than 11,000 gang members and their associates have been arrested over a three-year period thanks to a crackdown in immigration enforcement by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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Lou Dobbs Tonight
And there are some 800,000 gang members in this country: That’s more than the combined number of troops in our Army and Marine Corps. These gangs have become one of the principle ways to import and distribute drugs in the United States. Congressman David Reichert joins Lou to tell us why those gangs are growing larger and stronger, and why he’s introduced legislation to eliminate the top three international drug gangs.
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(CNSNews.com) -- The Department of Justice (DOJ) awarded $324 million in fiscal year 2010 to states and localities to help pay the salaries of corrections officers responsible for incarcerating criminal illegal immigrants. Those subsidies marked a decline of 18 percent from fiscal year 2009, when $394 million was distributed by the department.
The funds for those salaries are awarded through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), which is administered by the DOJ in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
According to the Justice Department, the SCAAP program “provides federal payments to states and localities that incurred correctional officer salary costs for incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens with at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions for violations of state or local law, and incarcerated for at least 4 consecutive days during the reporting period.”
The DOJ also explained that “most jurisdictions use SCAAP funding to pay the salaries and overtime costs of their corrections officers, but many also use these funds to pay for training and technology.”
The SCAAP disbursements for fiscal year 2010 were released on Sept. 30. In the 2010 fiscal year, 865 awards were made, down from the 900 awards made in fiscal year 2009.
Starr Small, a spokesperson at DOJ, told CNSNews.com that SCAAP only covers a fraction of a correctional officer’s salary.
“Jurisdictions receive a percentage of the correctional officer salary costs through the SCAAP award program,” said Small.
Michael Dino, assistant director of homeland security and justice issues at the Government Accountability Office, told CNSNews.com that the four states and four localities that housed the most criminal aliens in 2003 (latest data available from GAO) saw only 25 percent of their overall incarceration costs, not just correctional officer salary cost, covered through the SCAAP.
The four states in question were California, New York, Florida and Arizona. The four localities were Los Angeles County, New York City, Orange County (Calif.), and Maricopa County (Ariz.).
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) also reported in September 2009 that “SCAAP funds do not cover all of the costs for incarcerating immigrants or foreign nationals.”
Any state or locality that incurred costs for incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens is able to apply for SCAAP money. In FY
2010, applicants included all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and some counties and cities.
Historically, the state of California has received the most funding. This did not change in 2010. The state correctional system alone in California -- not including local and city jails -- was awarded $88.2 million, which is 27 percent of the total $324 million awarded by SCAAP.
The New York state correctional system, also excluding county and city jails, received the second most funding through SCAAP at about $18 million, followed by the Texas state correctional facility which received $16 million.

Border Patrol agents monitor the U.S. border with Mexico in Nogales, Ariz., on Thursday, April 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt York)
In its FY2010 budget proposal, the Obama administration called for eliminating the SCAAP program, saying termination of the program would save $400 million in federal revenue, i.e., taxpayer money.
The proposal said, “The Administration recognizes the financial burden that the current immigration system places on States and localities, and is committed to reducing illegal immigration. However, SCAAP resources can be better used to enhance Federal enforcement efforts.”
Nevertheless, the administration did not proceed in eliminating SCAAP and in its FY2011 budget, , it allotted $330 million for the program.
“The Budget also provides $330 million for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program to assist States and localities in the identification, status determination and conduct of removal proceedings of incarcerated illegal aliens,” stated the 2011 budget proposal.
In an October 6 report, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General’s Office estimated that there are approximately 300,000 to 450,000 criminal undocumented aliens in local, county, state, and federal prisons who are eligible to be removed from the United States.