Pay $350M in immigration costs

[ilbegone]

Perry to feds: Pay $350M in immigration costs

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for nearly $350 million to cover the costs incurred detaining illegal immigrants in state prisons and county jails.

By APRIL CASTRO

August 26, 2011

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Rick Perry has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for nearly $350 million to cover the costs incurred detaining illegal immigrants in state prisons and county jails.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Perry said the federal government hasn't been doing enough to secure the border with Mexico, thereby allowing illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. and use taxpayer-funded resources, including prisons and jails. It's a claim the Republican governor has made many times before.

The letter was dated Aug. 10, three days before he formally announced he is running for president.

Reached after work hours Friday by phone, Homeland Security spokesman Matthew Chandler said he could not confirm the department had even received the letter.

Perry has been criticized by some fellow conservatives as being too lenient on illegal immigration. Unlike fellow GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann, Perry does not think the U.S. should build a wall spanning the entire Mexico border. Perry also has supported discounted tuition rates for the children of illegal immigrants at Texas universities, and has said Arizona's tough-on-immigration law wouldn't be right for Texas.

In his letter, Perry described the formula he used to determine the costs, including $94.4 million to cover the costs incurred by county jails.

He included a memo from Comptroller Susan Combs in which she supports his calculations but warns the estimates are conservative.

"The longstanding failure of the federal government to secure our border with Mexico continues to burden local communities and resources in Texas," Perry wrote. "Because there are not enough troops on the ground, illegal immigrants are able to penetrate the Texas border every day and use taxpayer-funded resources."

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