Connie Mack: “I rise today with my colleague from Florida, and with the support of many others, to ask that the Federal Government be…”

“I rise today with my colleague from Florida, and with the support of many others, to ask that the Federal Government be responsive to a problem of its own creation. This bill requires the Attorney General of the United States to take custody of, or financial responsibility for, criminal aliens incarcerated in State prisons and jails. The flow of illegal immigrants into this country is a Federal problem, not a State problem. An individual State such as Florida can do nothing to prevent illegal immigration. This is solely the province of the Department of Justice, the Federal Customs Service and INS. Florida citizens like those of California, New York, Texas and Illinois, are weary of bearing the financial burden for the failure of these agencies to secure our borders. The injustice perpetrated upon the good citizens of our States are twofold: First, these aliens are able to circumvent our immigration system and illegally gain entry to our country. In many cases, this results in a draw down of scarce State human resources funds. Federal reimbursement for unpaid medical bills and the educational costs for the children of these immigrants never fully compensates our States. Worse yet, some of these illegal aliens commit crimes, again subjecting the State taxpayers to paying the freight for incarceration costs.”