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Check out:
The Center for Immigration Studies
an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization devoted exclusively to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the United States. 

Must Read,
Annotated Analysis on the
Facts of Illegal Immigration.

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The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration
A comprehensive study of the social, economic, health and cultural effects of Illegal Immigration.  Pull up a cup of coffee and educate yourself!!

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The Big Money Behind LaRaza
Click Here for a story you can't afford to Miss!

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Must Read,
Annotated Analysis on the
Facts of Illegal Immigration.

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NumbersUSA
Send Free Faxes to your Congressman and other Lawmakers!

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New FBI Statistics on Crimes Committed by Illegal Aliens

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See your FLORIDA Elected Officials Immigration Score here! 


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Play the
'ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT
IDENTIFICATION GAME'
See if you can score better
than our Government!!


Jailed illegal immigrants cost Collier taxpayers
$9 million yearly, sheriff says


FL: By Ryan Mills
Monday, June 18, 2007

Illegal immigrants who are incarcerated in Collier County jails cost local taxpayers more than $9 million a year, Sheriff Don Hunter told the Collier County Public Safety Coordinating Council today.

In an attempt to address the number and cost of illegal immigrants in Collier jails, Hunter said the Collier County Criminal Immigration Task Force is beginning to tackle three new components, which should make it easier to identify and ultimately remove criminal aliens from the country.

Hunter was the first speaker at the council’s quarterly meeting at the Human Resources building in the Collier County Government Center.

The purpose of the council, which is comprised of members of the County Commission, the Sheriff’s Office, the State Attorney’s Office and various nonprofits, is to assess the population status of all detention and correctional facilities in the county.

The council also ensures that the capacities of the lockups aren’t exceeded.

“If these people were not here in our country, they would not be in our jail and costing us millions to house and feed,” said Commissioner Fred Coyle, who chairs the safety council. “We’ve been tracking this for over a year. We’ve been concerned about this issue for a long, long time.”

There are anywhere from 11.5 million to 20 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, and an estimated 800,000 to 950,000 living in Florida, Hunter said. If there were an imaginary line between west coast Citrus County and east coast Volusia County, about 80 percent of the illegal immigrants in Florida would live below that line, he said.

About 22 percent of all crime in Collier County is attributed to illegal immigrants, Hunter said. Also, 40 percent of all felony warrants and 60 percent of murder arrest warrants in the county are for illegal immigrants, he said.

Some of that crime is committed by members of violent gangs, like MS-13, Hunter said.

“MS-13 is hiding out in our agricultural populations,” Hunter told the council. “They are trying to blend into the regular population.”

A snapshot of the Collier County jail population on Jan. 24, 2007, showed that there were 283 self-admitted illegal immigrants incarcerated. On average, the jail houses 1,150 inmates.

It costs $24,774 per day to house and feed illegal immigrants in the county jails, adding up to $9,042,444 per year, Hunter said. That doesn’t include the costs for judges, juries, prosecutors, public defenders and other court-related costs.

Coyle said after the meeting that other expenses involved with illegal immigrants cost county taxpayers tens of millions more per year.

“It comes from educational costs,” Coyle said. “There are thousands of students in our schools that do not speak English. The vast majority of them are illegal. There are people clogging up our emergency rooms.

“People who violated our laws to get here are costing us money.”

To cut down on the costs of illegal immigration, the Sheriff’s Office has partnered with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to begin implementing two federal programs that together promise to help reduce jail overcrowding, provide cost savings and promote community safety.

The first, the Criminal Alien Program — or CAP — focuses on identifying criminal aliens who are incarcerated and ensuring they aren’t released into the community by securing a final order of removal before the end of their sentence.

The second program, the Detention Removal Operation — or DRO — makes certain through the enforcement of immigration laws that all removable aliens depart the country.

Three ICE agents have been assigned to the Collier County jail as part of an agency partnership, and Hunter said a number of Sheriff’s Office employees are being trained to perform the same duties.

To complete the cycle, the Sheriff’s Office also plans to implement a third component, an Executive Office for Immigration Review. The immigration review office is within the U.S. Department of Justice, which presides over immigration cases involving detained and criminal aliens and ensures standards of due process and fair treatment.

“Once they’re out of the country, they can’t commit any more crimes,” Hunter said after the meeting. “End of discussion.”

Coyle, who in the past year repeatedly has expressed unhappiness with the immigration system, said he believes the three programs should be a great benefit to local law enforcement.

“I think local law enforcement (officers) are doing the best they possibly can do,” Coyle said. “I think it is the federal government which is irresponsible in their failure to carry out their duties. The federal government has failed miserably and continues to fail miserably.”

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jun/18/jailed_illegal_immigrants_cost_collier_taxpayers_9/?

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NBC2 Investigative Reports looks at the cost of Illegal Immigration in Southwest Florida

Jailed illegal immigrants cost taxpayers thousands

NBC2 News
Last updated on: 2/26/2007 5:58:42 PM

COLLIER COUNTY : NBC2 investigators found out American taxpayers are shelling out thousands of dollars a day for illegal immigrants to spend time in jail. NBC2 found out it costs taxpayers in Collier County $8.5 million each year to pay for illegal immigrants in jail. We took the results of our investigation to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to find out why.

In Collier County, it is Sheriff Don Hunter's job to make sure taxpayer money is wisely spent when it comes to law enforcement.

Something troubles Hunter and he thinks it will trouble taxpayers too.

"I think they're going to be as surprised as I was when I looked to see how many people were in our jail who might admit to being illegally present," said Hunter.

Sheriff Hunter started counting the number of people arrested and booked into his jail who admitted they were illegal immigrants.

We picked a random day and asked Hunter for a head count. On January 26th, out of a total population of 1167 inmates, 283 admitted they were illegal.

The estimated cost of housing one inmate per day is $82.06. Multiply that by 283 and you find out Collier county taxpayers paid $23,222 to house those illegal immigrants on that day.

The yearly figure is astounding - $8.5 million, or about 22 percent of the total jail budget.

Illegals stay in county jails throughout the court process, and if convicted, they serve jail time at county taxpayer expense.

That enrages Russ Landry of Citizens Against Illegal Immigrants.

"I don't believe that the country should have to pay for illegal immigrants here that are multi-times arrested each and every day," said Landry.

We drove to Tampa to take up the issue with the special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Robert Weber.

NBC2: It's kind of a perception maybe, that when someone is picked up here illegally, that the process is to move them out.

Weber: There's not a blanket statement that if you're picked up for whatever crime or issue it was, that you're going to be deported.

In fact, US law keeps them here. They are allowed due process of law under the current law of the United States.

Sister Maureen Kelleher is a legal aid attorney. She represents farm workers in Immokalee.

"It would be fool-hardy to just have an allegation without a conviction," said Kelleher.

The conviction creates a record which should keep that illegal immigrant from ever getting a Visa. Some would argue that with the conviction, the illegal should be sent packing. But should they pay a debt to society first?

"I'm born in this country I have to do 8 months, solid lock up. He's born in Mexico, broke our law to come here, and he's walking out of here," said Kelleher.

"If it's a crime that they've been arrested for by the state you let that process run through. As far as them serving their state crime, time for the crime, and then we move in with deportation orders," said Weber.

Until then, the cost is shouldered locally.

Sheriff Hunter is so concerned, he took his numbers to Washington DC and lobbied high level staffers for the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

"Congress needs to get the message that we should not tolerate this. This is a heavy, heavy burden for taxpayers," said Hunter.

Not all jails keep track of their number of illegal immigrants because they are not required to, but according to Homeland Security, 630,000 illegal immigrants are booked into our jails and prisons every year. It costs Americans almost $1.5 billion a year.

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