Karen Thurman: “I support the Beilenson-Berman-Condit- Thurman amendment to H.R. 4092. I prefer an amendment that takes effect next…”

“I support the Beilenson-Berman-Condit- Thurman amendment to H.R. 4092. I prefer an amendment that takes effect next year, but we are forced to delay implementation. With regard to the policy behind this amendment, our government was established by a special social contract. Certain responsibilities were given to the Federal Government; others remained with the States. Immigration is a Federal responsibility. If the Federal Government fails to control our borders, then it must assume responsibility for the consequences of its inaction. So, if you let into this country aliens who commit crimes against Americans, then you should pay for their imprisonment. I approach this situation from the perspective of 10 years in the Florida Senate. For years, I was forced to shift State funds from one or another program to criminal justice and other programs whose costs increased because of the presence of illegal aliens. In March, Governor Chiles released a report cataloging the cost of illegal aliens to Florida: $884 million a year. In the criminal justice system, the problem has changed dramatically in the past 14 years. In 1980, the supervision cost--probation and parole--of criminal aliens in Florida totaled about $86,000 for 245 offenders. By 1993, this cost--which comes entirely from State revenues--increased to $6.8 million to cover nearly 5,100 aliens. In 1988, the cost of incarcerating 1,288 other aliens--non-Mariel Cubans--was nearly $13.8 million.…”