Thread: N.C.: Reimbursement grant for suspected illegals on agenda

Reimbursement grant for suspected illegals on agenda
Commissioners to consider recommendation tonight

By Dee Henry | Hickory Daily Record

Published: October 20, 2008

NEWTON - The cost of housing inmates is steadily increasing, along with the cost of living. Boarding suspected illegal aliens can be a burden on local law enforcement, but a program through the U.S. Department of Justice is helping with that cost.

The Catawba County Sheriff's Office is recommending this year's grant in the amount of $19,691 through that program be put toward medical costs in the jail. That portion of the county budget, Sheriff David Huffman said, is difficult to predict, and with enough medical situations in any given fiscal year, can put a strain on the county's budget.

"When you're making the budget, you don't know what you're going to have," Huffman said.

The jail has handled two medical situations just recently. A male inmate fell in the shower and broke his jaw, costing the county between $14,000 and $15,000 for treatment. A female inmate gave birth while in jail, a cost of $21,000.

Huffman said Catawba County averages between 33 and 36 suspected illegal aliens each year, but number is currently on the decline as many migrant workers have begun moving to other areas offering higher wages.

The grant is through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or SCAPP, and comes requiring no matching funds from the county. The amount is based on a formula using the number of suspected illegal aliens housed during the fiscal year. Catawba County's cut is based on suspected aliens housed in the Newton Detention Center and those held for Catawba County at the Burke-Catawba District Confinement Facility.

Huffman said when a deputy arrests a suspected illegal alien, the department contacts Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and that department eventually picks up the arrestees for possible deportation.

The grant will be considered during the Catawba County Board of Commissioners meeting tonight at 7 p.m. in the Robert E. Hibbitts Meeting Room at the 1924 Courthouse in Newton.

Other agenda items include public hearings on a voluntary agricultural district and enhanced voluntary agricultural district ordinance and proposed amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance.

www2.hickoryrecord.com

Huffman said Catawba County averages between 33 and 36 suspected illegal aliens each year, but number is currently on the decline as many migrant workers have begun moving to other areas offering higher wages.

This is not comforting, so few illegal immigrant caught.