While pleased that a Congressional subcommittee restored some but not all of the assistance funds for jailing illegal immigrants, which were eliminated in President Barack Obama's budget, four Arizona lawmakers said it is not enough.


They are calling for restoration of another $100 million.
In a June 4 press release from the office of Rep. Anne Kirkpatrick (Dist. 1, D-AZ), press secretary Joe Katz said Kirkpatrick, along with Reps. Harry Mitchell (Dist. 5, D-AZ), Trent Franks (Dist. 2, R-AZ), and Gabrielle Giffords (Dist. 8, D-AZ), joined together to write a letter to Reps. David Obey and Jerry Lewis, the top Democrat and Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, to strongly request the $100 million be restored to bring State Criminal Alien Assistance Program funding back to the $400 million level.
"Arizonans are tired of carrying the federal government's burden of dealing with illegal immigration and border security, and SCAAP helps ensure that we do not get stuck with the entire bill for this national problem," Kirkpatrick said.
"Our local law enforcement needs more resources, not fewer. Congressional leadership must recognize that and fully fund this vital program."
The four Arizona congressmen are not the only ones who feel federal support of the program is not only wise, but essential to law enforcement and national security.
California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been very vocal in her repeated calls for additional funding for the program, which Obama himself (while an Illinois senator) has in the past voted to support.
As an Illinois senator, Obama co-sponsored an amendment offered by then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) which would have provided additional funding for the program while also establishing a grant program to defray local government health-care and education costs for non-citizens.
Obama voted to support the Clinton the amendment, but it was defeated 43-52.
"Each year, the SCAAP program is underfunded," Clinton said in 2006.
Kirkpatrick, Franks, Feinstein, Giffords and Mitchell are not the only ones requesting full restoration of SCAAP funding either.
A bipartisan trio comprised of California's Democrat Reps. Mike Honda and Adam Schiff, along with Lewis, drafted a letter urging the House Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies to restore full funding for the program.
"The federal government's inability to secure our border and enforce immigration laws has put an enormous burden on our local law enforcement agencies. The SCAAP funding is crucial given the fact that there are such high numbers of illegal immigrants in our jails.
"The federal government has a responsibility to ensure these cash-strapped law enforcement agencies are financially compensated for doing the job the federal government should done in the first place," Franks said.


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