Ind. gets funding to detain immigrants
By Eric Bradner
Evansville Courier & Press
Posted August 2, 2010 at 12:22 a.m.

The state of Indiana and several counties have used a grant program intended to encourage states and communities to report jailed illegal immigrants to the federal government

..INDIANAPOLIS — A grant program intended to encourage states and localities to report to the federal government illegal immigrants who are incarcerated might not do much to change how Indiana law enforcement officials operate, but it does provide an infusion of cash that can be spent on housing those inmates.

Though Vanderburgh County is not receiving any State Criminal Alien Assistance Program money, the state's prison system is.

The Indiana Department of Correction is the state's largest recipient of those dollars. It received $1.1 million in 2009, up from $871,000 in 2008 and $622,000 in 2007.

Federal law requires the money be spent on costs such as pay for corrections officers, training and education for both officers and offenders, and construction and maintenance of the prisons that house those offenders.

Doug Garrison, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Correction, said the money does not affect who the state chooses to arrest and charge with crimes. It simply adds to the budget to run prisons.

Illegal immigrants do make up part of that prison population. In 2009, state prisons housed 211 people identified by the Department of Homeland Security as illegal immigrants. They spent a combined total of more than 63,000 days in Indiana prisons.

The legal status of another 593 inmates who spent a total of more than 180,000 days in Indiana prisons could not be determined.

The state received $18.16 per day for each inmate who was identified as an illegal immigrant.

In the last three years, Vanderburgh County has not received any federal dollars through the program. However, other Indiana counties as large as Allen, where Fort Wayne is located, and as small as rural Blackford, have.

In 2008, Blackford County, which has 82 jail beds, received $1,733 through the program for housing for a total of 473 days three inmates whose legal status could not be determined.

In 2009, Allen County received $38,500 for housing 35 illegal immigrants and 112 people whose legal status could not be determined.

The prevalence of undocumented workers has prompted state lawmakers to introduce legislation to deal with the issue even though many consider it one largely to be handled at the federal level.

Though Indiana has not passed legislation along the lines of Arizona's, state Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, has pushed in recent years for a bill that would crack down on businesses that employ undocumented workers.

Delph has introduced anti-illegal immigration bills in four consecutive legislative sessions, and he says he plans to continue doing so, perhaps by following Arizona's lead.

"There's almost a universal feeling of frustration with the failure of the federal government to do its job, which is one of the reasons why I think it's important for all states and localities to stand up for the citizens of Arizona," Delph said.

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