San Diego officials say feds are using taxpayers as the ‘doormat’ for illegal border crossings

August 15, 2006

Local government officials in San Diego have joined the growing chorus of local officials across the nation who complain that the federal government's failure to curb illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border is sapping local public services just as a key House chairman said prospects for action this year on the immigration front did not look good.

“San Diego may be the gateway to Mexico, but our taxpayers are the doormat,” said County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Horn while addressing a hearing of the House Government Reform Committee in San Diego. “Every dollar spent on providing services to illegal immigrants or their children is a dollar that isn't used on taxpaying citizens.”

The U.S. House and Senate have passed bills that take dramatically different approaches to curbing illegal immigration. Tom Davis, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee said it seems unlikely the two sides would get together on a compromise anytime soon. “It's true that each house has passed a bill,” said Davis, a Republican from Virginia. “But I'm not sure we're going to get any reconciliation of them in this Congress.”

Through the summer, various House committees have conducted dozens of hearings on immigration-related issues across the country.

At the congressional hearing, county Sheriff Bill Kolender told the committee that local law enforcement budgets were stretched thin by the cost of incarcerating criminals who were in the country illegally.

Kolender said that during the past 18 months, one-quarter of the deported criminals returned to the county and wound up back in jail – some as many as five times.

“As chief law enforcement officer for San Diego County and with nearly 50 years of law enforcement experience, I know first-hand that illegal immigration has plagued local law enforcement for decades,” he said.

Horn said the county spent $50 million a year incarcerating illegal immigrants and was reimbursed only $2 million by the federal government.

“You owe us $48 million,” he said.

Before the hearing, protesters on both sides of the issue gathered at the entrance to the county building.

A couple dozen anti-immigration protesters, many affiliated with the Minuteman Project, waved American flags and sang “God Bless America” within feet of their opponents. Some carried signs that said, “Say no to Chicano racism.”

Immigration activist Enrique Morones and his Border Angels group carried signs saying, “Ni Una Muerte Mas” – not one more death – as they laid small crosses on the building's lawn to signify some of the thousands of immigrants who have died crossing the border in the past 12 years.

“We're looking for humane and comprehensive immigration reform,” Morones said. “Let's work together instead of trying to attack and blame everything on the immigrants.”