Once again, i'm talking about apples, Feinstein wants to talk about oranges! Apparently, Feinstein fails to understand that if we secured our borders, states wouldn't need to be reimbursed for the cost of incarcerating illegals because they wouldn't be here!

I don't want to be paying anything to incarcerate an illegal that has no legal right to be here in the first place! Why is the concept so difficult for Feinstein to grasp?

Dear Mr. XXXXXX:


Thank you for writing to me regarding S.2717, the "Effective Immigration Enforcement Partnerships Act of 2008." I appreciate your correspondence on this issue and welcome the opportunity to respond.

On March 5, 2008, Senator Chambliss (R-GA) introduced S.2717, "The Effective Immigration Enforcement Partnerships Act of 2008." This legislation proposes various tactics to secure our borders and to enhance the enforcement of immigration policies at local and Federal levels. Please know that I will keep your concerns in mind should this legislation come to the Senate floor for a vote.

Like you, I am deeply concerned about the substantial burden that immigration-related costs impose on our State and local communities. For border states such as California, the cost of incarcerating undocumented criminal immigrants amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. As you may know, the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) is a critical program to states and localities because it offers reimbursement for the cost of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens. SCAAP is the states' only form of compensation.

This year the President's budget provided no funding for SCAAP. In fact, the President has completely failed to fund SCAAP in his budget for the past seven years he has been in office. On March 13, 2008, I responded by introducing an amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution (S. Con. Res. 70) to increase funding for SCAAP for fiscal year 2009. I am pleased that the Senate approved my amendment by unanimous consent. This will increase SCAAP's budget authority to $950 million, the level at which the program is authorized, providing vital funding for our capacity to carry out immigration policies at the local level.

Once again, thank you for writing to me. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact my Washington, D.C. staff at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.



Sincerely yours,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator