Howard Berman: “I rise in strong support of Beilenson- Berman-Condit-Thurman amendment. In 1986, the Federal Government recognized its…”

“I rise in strong support of Beilenson- Berman-Condit-Thurman amendment. In 1986, the Federal Government recognized its responsibility to be financially accountable for illegal aliens convicted of felonies in State courts. Section 501 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act specifically authorizes the Attorney General shall reimburse States for the costs of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens; but to date, States that bear the burden of housing this population in their jails have seen no money from this program. With over 30,000 criminal aliens in State and local prisons across the United States, the financial costs to these communities can be staggering. The State of California, with the largest criminal alien population in the country, estimates that the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens will exceed $375 million this year. In 1993, States including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington reported that the number of criminal aliens exceeded 2 percent of their prison populations. We all know and can say that immigration policy in this Nation rests in the hands of the Federal Government.”