Hamblen County is not the only county affected by costs associated with illegal aliens. Nor is education the only part of county government that is impacted by these costs.
Other costs are found in connection with law enforcement, courts, jails, hospitals, and medical providers.
Congressman Tom Tancredo is a strong voice in his home state of Colorado as well as in Washington in the drive to petition Congress to halt illegal immigration and to establish secure borders.
Congressman Tancredo copied the following letter to all county commissioners, Mayor David Purkey, and Tennessee 1st District Congressional Rep. Bill Jenkins in support of the Hamblen County Commission's Resolution to send the 'illegal immigration bill' to the US government:
See my earlier post for October 10, 2005: "Illegal Immigration Resolution"
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THOMAS G. TANCREDO
6th district, Colorado
1130 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D. C. 20515
Main 202-225-7882
Fax 202-226-4623
Committee on Resources
Committee on International Relations
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515-0606
October 6, 2005
Hon. Joe Spoone, Chairman
Hamblen County Commission
1750 Timbercrest
Morristown, Tennessee 37814
Dear Commission Chairman Spoone:
I am aware that you will soon be considering a resolution to seek information and datathat will allow the attempted recovery of the costs of providing public services to illegalaliens in your county. Those services include public K-12 education and emergencyroom medical care as mandated by federal court decisions. I applaud you forconsidering this course of action and urge you to pursue it.
While public schools are required by federal court rulings to admit students based solely on residency and without regard to immigration status, there is nothing in federal law that prohibits schools from asking about immigration status and reporting the aggregate data to the school board and the county commission. Such aggregate data violates no one's privacy rights.
The same is true of other public services funded by taxpayers. Hospital emergency rooms can ask such questions and collect that data. They have chosen not to do so, yet there is no legal prohibition from doing it. It is also common for indigents, including illegal aliens, to be treated for other ailments after being admitted for an emergency condition. To the extent that Tennessee and Hamblen County taxpayers are required to provide indigent health care in local hospitals, citizens have a right to know the scope and cost of this public expenditure.
County jails across the country incur costs for incarceration of illegal aliens convicted of crime or awaiting trial, yet few jails report that data and that cost to the public. Jail administrators can determine immigration status of inmates by asking assistance from the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, and can ask that identified illegal aliens be placed on "immigration hold" to face deportation proceedings when their jail terms end. Many counties currently receive federal reimbursement of incarceration costs through the U.S. Department of Justice's State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), but studies have shown that the amount of reimbursement is only about 25% of the true costs of incarceration. For example, in 2004 the State of Tennessee penal
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Chairman Joe Spoone October 6, 2005
Page Two
system received $238,789 in SCAAP funds, but the actual cost was closer to $1 million. This means the taxpayers of Tennessee paid at least $700,000 to incarcerate illegal aliens in the state prison system alone, not counting the costs in local jails. The federal grant formula is based on a percentage of correctional staff salaries and does not take into account the costs of food, recreation, health, transportation, capital investment, or the cost of judicial proceedings and law enforcement.
Consider the following facts about illegal alien crime:
o In Los Angeles County; California, in 2002, a study by the county sheriff revealed that over 24% of the
inmates in the jail were illegal aliens, and many localities across America now have percentages in the
range of 10% or higher.
o A study by my office of the in Denver, Colorado city-county jail revealed that fewer than 15% of the illegal
alien inmates in 2004 had been deported. The remaining 85% were released back into the community.
o Another study showed that the typical illegal alien deported for criminal activity in 2002 had committed
seven crimes.
o The state penal system in Tennessee received federal SCAAP reimbursement payments in 2004 for
incarcerating nearly 200 illegal alien felons, but only 41 felons were deported that year.
Has anyone investigated to find out the comparable numbers in Hamblen County? The faster criminal aliens can be identified and removed through deportation, the more savings accrue to taxpayers—in dollar terms and in reduced crime.
The commissioners in Canyon County, Idaho sent a bill for medical costs to the Mexican government, because the Mexican government officially encourages and condones illegal entry into the U.S. The governor of Arizona sent a bill to the federal government this year for the full costs of incarceration of all illegal aliens in jails across the state.
I hope Hamblen County will seek to identify such costs, will share this information with its citizens, and then will seek recovery of those costs in some appropriate manner. I also hope you will join Tennessee citizens in petitioning Congress to halt illegal immigration by establishing secure borders.
Sincerely,
Tom Tancredo
Member of Congress
Chairman, Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus
CC: All Hamblen County Commissioners
County Mayor Dave Purkey
Rep. William Jenkins
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