Local officials are arguing against potential cuts in the federal budget that would eliminate certain grant money for state and local jails that incarcerate criminal illegal immigrants.
In President Barack Obama’s proposed fiscal 2010 budget, $400 million in funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or SCAAP, would be scrapped. The program partially subsidizes the cost of housing criminal illegal immigrants, based on the population of illegal immigrants in state and local jails.
The program is proposed for elimination because “it functions as an unfocused block grant and funds can be used for any correctional-related purpose,” according to budget documents. The documents go on to say the funds could be better used to enhance federal enforcement efforts.
But local officials said the cuts should not be made. Fairfax County Sheriff Stan Barry said the current economic situation has already placed strains on local governments, and so the federal aid was important.
“In other times, there might be some flexibility, but things are much tighter now,” he said. “We don’t have the option of saying, ‘We won’t incarcerate these criminals.’ ”
Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, whose county has taken the most aggressive stance on illegal immigration in the region, agreed with Barry’s economic argument.
“It’s exactly the wrong time to reduce SCAAP — if anything, it should be increased,” Stewart said. “We’re bearing the cost of illegal immigration, when it’s the federal government’s job to secure the borders.”
Barry said he did not have an exact figure for the total cost of housing criminal illegal immigrants in the county, but that it was “many times the amount we were reimbursed by the federal government.” Fairfax received about $1 million through the program in fiscal 2008.
Arthur Wallenstein, the Director of the Montgomery County jail, said that though the White House has tried to eliminate the funding for four consecutive budget cycles, he was still concerned that the cuts could make it through this time.
“I’m sorry that the current administration is trying to abolish it,” he said. “It would be a terrible, terrible thing to say to local jurisdictions, ‘Here — deal with this.’ It’s not a local issue, it’s a federal issue.”
