Bush shorts money, beds for immigrants
  WASHINGTON (AP) – It will take nearly 35,000 more jail beds to end a much-criticized “catch and release” program for dangerous illegal immi*grants in the United States, but the Bush administration has not budgeted enough to do that, the Homeland Security Depart*ment’s internal watchdog said Friday.
  The White House proposes spending $386 million, which would pay for 6,700 beds but not enough to detain all high*risk aliens, Inspector General Richard L. Skinner said in a 52-page report. The new re*port highlighted shortfalls in deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes in the United States or are from countries that sponsor terror*ism or protect terrorists.
  It also warned of “signifi*cant risks” posed by the in*ability of U.S. customs and border enforcement officers to identify whether immi*grants released from jail were linked to terror groups.
  In an administration pledge to crack down on illegal immi*grants, the Homeland Security Department has vowed to end “catch and release” – ticketing and freeing people in the United States illegally instead of de*taining them – by fall.
  Skinner’s report said 36 percent of the 774,112 illegal aliens apprehended in the U.S. during the past three years were released because there weren’t enough beds or mon*ey available to hold them while officials determined their immigration status.


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