California is being especially hard hit by cuts to an important federal program that reimburses state and local governments for the cost of jailing criminal illegal immigrants. The annual appropriations bill recently agreed to by the U.S. House and Senate reduces funding for the State Criminal Assistance Program by more than 18 percent.  

This is a prime example of misguided government priorities.  At a time when billions of our tax dollars are being diverted to bailout and stimulus programs with dubious results, Congress cuts a program with an obvious public benefit – housing criminals who should not be on the streets (and who wouldn’t even be in this country if the feds were protecting the integrity of our borders).  This program should have been expanded, especially at a time when California and other border states are facing severe budget pressures. Indeed, a strong argument can be made for the federal government picking up the entire cost of incarcerating undocumented criminal immigrants – estimated at $1 billion a year in California alone – since state and local governments are not making federal immigration policy and are not responsible for securing the border.

The reductions to this already underfunded program increases costs to local governments across the country, at a time when they are already struggling from reduced revenues. Such a burden could ultimately cost jobs in local law enforcement agencies and will impact local public safety.

Nearly 25 percent of LA County’s inmates are undocumented immigrants, costing the county about $95 million a year.  Last year, the federal government reimbursed LA County just $15 million and this year the reimbursement will be cut to about $12 million.  Statewide, California will take an estimated $70 million hit, further worsening the state budget crisis. And we know what happens when the state has to cut its budget: County and cities see proportionate cuts in the monies they receive from the state.

In recent weeks, state officials and local congressmen Jerry Lewis and Howard P. Buck McKeon lobbied to increase aid to the states for the program. Sadly, their efforts failed.

We were hoping to see California begin to cash in on its purported increased clout in Washington this year.  That didn’t happen on this issue and we are hard pressed to understand why. 

Now would be a good time for the California Congressional delegation to regroup and figure out how to be more effective on critical issues that could help our state and local governments through tough times.