State spends millions to house illegal immigrants

WFTV.com
February 24, 2012
CHATTAHOOCHEE, Fla.


Florida is spending millions of dollars every year housing and feeding criminals who are in the state illegally, in mental health facilities.

Nestled in the hills of Chattahoochee, on the Florida-Georgia line, is Florida’s largest mental health facility.

Every year millions of state tax dollars are spent at the facility, and at similar facilities, caring for criminals who are in the county illegally.

State Rep. Ritch Workman is tired of it and is going to change it.

"At the end of the day, when does the niceness end and our laws kick in and say you shouldn't be here in the first place?" said Workman.

Right now there are 51 people who have been accused of crimes and are in the county illegally under state care. It costs about $3 million a year to care for them. They've all been accused of a crime, and have either been deemed incompetent to proceed in court or not guilty by reason of insanity.

Some of them have spent years in the state's facilities.

It's a revolving very expensive bill that has cost Florida $17 million so far. Workman wonders why the state is even spending that money when other dire state services are being cut.

"We are subsidizing their bad behavior with hard earned state tax dollars, and that's going to stop,” said Workman.

Some wonder why these illegal alien prisoners aren’t deported.

Some of them are eventually sent back home.

Some stay because they have children or spouses who were born in the United States.

Others are at the facilities because the court system has decided they should stay.

"It may be these individuals owe a debt to the state of Florida that we're actually willing to pay, to make sure they serve out their time here in Florida," said Robert Weissert of Florida Taxwatch.

The Florida Department of Children and Families runs the facilities, and controls how much money is spent. But the agency can't deport them; that's up to the federal government.

"Our role by law is people refer to us, we treat them, and decisions whether they stay or not is not our decision to make," said DCF spokesman Joe Follick.

Workman said he questions why the state is paying for illegal immigrants, while slashing services for legal citizens to the bone.

“At what time are our U.S. citizens going to say, ‘That's it. That's enough. We're done?’" said Workman.

Right now the only immigration-related bill moving through the Florida Legislature is one requiring fingerprint analysis for jobs.

Most of the illegal immigrants being treated come from Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba.

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