Thread: U.S. Border Region Devastated By Immigration

A San Diego local news channel is reporting about this for AZ but not CA.


Study: Illegal Immigration Costs Border Counties Millions
University of Arizona, SDSU Say Money Diverted From Parks, Libraries

POSTED: 8:37 pm PST March 5, 2008


PHOENIX -- A new San Diego State University study concluded that law enforcement and criminal prosecutions linked to illegal immigration has cost Arizona border counties millions of dollars a year.

The study said the battle over illegal immigration is also diverting money from parks, libraries and other law-enforcement efforts.

University of Arizona and SDSU researchers said that in the four border counties in Arizona, costs increased 39 percent to $26.6 million in fiscal 2006.


The study was commissioned by the U.S.-Mexico Border Counties Coalition, a non-profit group of border-county officials.

www.nbcsandiego.com

March 6, 2008
Border Counties Shortchanged in Immigrant Costs, Study Says
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
LOS ANGELES — Counties along the Mexican border from California to Texas are shortchanged millions of dollars a year in costs related to prosecuting and jailing illegal immigrants, according to a study released Wednesday.

The study was by the University of Arizona and San Diego State University on behalf of the United States/Mexico Border Counties Coalition, a group representing the 24 border counties.

Cumulatively, the counties spent $1.23 billion from 1999 to 2006 to process illegal immigrants in the justice system, the study found. Federal programs offset only a fraction of those costs, and often did not receive the maximum level of financing that they are authorized to receive, the study said.

“This is a huge problem because we can’t keep up with fixing roads, the others costs of law enforcement, keeping up health agencies,â€