The only ones that care so much about illegal immigrants are the ones without a former college education -- other than that middle-class and upper-class aren't affected by this problem. You want to obtain a job that illegal immigrants can't have? Become a doctor, a scientist, an engineer, or etc -- and leave the menial labor job to those who really want to do them.
So they should be allowed to break our laws and take our jobs when we have 9% unemployment?
Impacts Of Illegal Immigration: Crime
In 1980, our Federal and state facilities held fewer than 9,000 criminal aliens but at the end of 2003, approximately 267,000 illegal aliens were incarcerated in U.S. correctional facilities, as follows
* 46,000 in Federal prisons
* 74,000 in state prisons
* 147,000 in local jails
The article also notes that approximately 27% of all prisoners in Federal custody are criminal illegal aliens and the majority (63%) of those are Mexican citizens. However, the large Mexican component is mostly due to the fact that the majority of illegal aliens are from Mexico and the incarceration rate is only slightly above the Mexican representation (~57%) of the illegal aliens in the overall illegal alien population, although a more recent crossing analysis indicates a much higher Mexican content.
The article goes on to state that in fiscal 2004, the Federal govt. spent $1.4 billion to incarcerate criminal aliens. This total included $280 million of reimbursements made to state and local governments under the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program [SCAAP] - a Department of Justice program managed by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) - but SCAAP funds cover less than 25% of the full cost of incarcerating criminal aliens, leaving the balance of 75% to be picked up by the local jurisdiction.
It is worth noting that all the incarceration costs, some $5.6 billion in 2004, are ultimately paid for by the taxpayers. Throughout this paper, it is worth noting the costs being imposed on society for illegal aliens as you will see that the costs will continue to accumulate, often dramatically so. It is also worth noting that with proper border security and immigration enforcement there would be few illegal aliens and little of those costs would be incurred thus allowing a cost-benefit analysis.
The GAO issued a report, number GAO-05-337R, entitled Information on Criminal Aliens Incarcerated in Federal and State Prisons and Local Jails on May 9, 2005, prepared for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims. It noted:
"At the federal level, the number of criminal aliens incarcerated increased from about 42,000 at the end of calendar year 2001 to about 49,000 at the end of calendar year 2004--a 15 percent increase. The percentage of all federal prisoners who are criminal aliens has remained the same over the last 3 years--about 27 percent. The majority of criminal aliens incarcerated at the end of calendar year 2004 were identified as citizens of Mexico. We estimate the federal cost of incarcerating criminal aliens--BOP's cost to incarcerate criminals and reimbursements to state and local governments under SCAAP--totaled approximately $5.8 billion for calendar years 2001 through 2004. BOP's cost to incarcerate criminal aliens rose from about $950 million in 2001 to about $1.2 billion in 2004--a 14 percent increase."
And interestingly notes:
"Federal reimbursements for incarcerating criminal aliens in state prisons and local jails declined from $550 million in 2001 to $280 million in 2004, in a large part due to a reduction in congressional appropriations."
This illustrates the failings of your government as the Federal Government is responsible for securing the borders but allows more and more illegal aliens to violate the sovereignty of the United States. However, when the illegal aliens commit crimes and are arrested, they are paying less and less of the state and local costs of incarcerating them. That's something you might want to ask your state's congressional members about. Although notable, the public cost of incarcerating illegal aliens is trivial alongside the carnage they imposed on their victims. Remember, incarcerated illegal alien perpetrators committed crime before being incarcerated. So the question is "How much crime?"
