U.S. illegal immigration program costing San Bernardino County

San Bernardino County taxpayers have spent an estimated $54.5 million to jail illegal immigrants since 2004, and officials have been fighting an uphill battle to get the federal government to pick up more of that cost.

In all, federal officials have reimbursed the county about $6.7million since fiscal year 2004 through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.

County officials say the advent of the 287(g) program, which trains county jail deputies to identify illegal immigrants and hold them for immigration proceedings, gives local authorities their most precise picture yet of how many illegal immigrants are being held and how much it costs.

But with the tough economy, there’s little hope that local taxpayers will get off the hook any time soon.

“The Board of Supervisors believes it should be fully reimbursed by the federal government for the cost of incarcerating criminal illegal immigrants, and the county works very hard at the federal level to preserve and maximize the SCAAP,” county spokesman David Wert said.

In April 2008, the Board of Supervisors approved a resolution seeking additional reimbursement from the federal government for the costs of jailing illegal immigrants.

“San Bernardino County taxpayers shouldn’t have to shoulder that burden,” Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt said at the time. “It’s an insult to our taxpayers to reimburse us for only (a fraction) of our cost for housing illegal aliens in our jails.”

The problem in securing additional reimbursement from the federal government, Wert said, boils down to the usual suspect: money.

The last three presidents have proposed either cutting or eliminating the reimbursement program as a way to help balance the federal budget.

The program also is under fire in the Senate, where the purse strings are controlled by members from small states that tend not to have serious immigration problems.

The Obama administration, in its budget submittal to Congress last year, asked Congress to eliminate SCAAP, Wert said.

“The county grasps the reality that very little funding is available, and given the political realities in Washington, the county is, in a sense, lucky the program exists at all,” Wert said.

Members of the Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Rod Hoops have had personal conversations with the county’s congressional delegation in efforts to secure more federal money.

That’s in addition to the county’s lobbying efforts, which the county has done both individually and in conjunction with Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles counties, Wert said.

Last week, the Board of Supervisors voted to extend the 287(g) program for three years.

Under the agreement with U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement, nine San Bernardino County sheriff’s custody specialists screen inmates suspected of being in the country illegally. If it is determined that certain inmates are illegal immigrants, detainers are placed on them, and they are turned over to federal immigration officers once their criminal cases have concluded.

But some critics question whether the program is helping taxpayers or hurting them.

“It’s a burdensome cost to the local government,” said Suzanne Foster, policy committee chairwoman for the Justice for Immigrants Coalition of Inland Southern California. “ICE does provide initial training, but it does not fund the screening process, overtime hours, or any part of the housing of inmates. … It has been found all over the country to be quite burdensome to the local governments, costing taxpayers more than is necessary.”

Foster says the program encourages police officers to arrest greater numbers of illegal immigrants, leading to increased cost to taxpayers.

Indeed, the number of San Bernardino County jail inmates identified as illegal immigrants has grown nearly five-fold since 2004.

But it’s impossible to tell whether more illegal immigrants are being jailed or simply counted more precisely.

Last year, the inmate screening program was streamlined to enable custody specialists to screen inmates countywide via closed-circuit television. Since then, the numbers of inmates who have had detainer holds placed on them has increased dramatically, sheriff’s Lt. Rick Ells said.

“I’m not sure it’s cutting down on what we’re spending on housing the inmates, but we’re removing criminals from the streets, and that’s going to benefit the county,” he said.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/07/2009 08:59:05 PM PST
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_13740432

Carjacking suspect escapes from Adelanto Detention Center

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

August 18, 2009

A suspect in a series of knifepoint carjackings escaped from a San Bernardino County jail early Tuesday by scaling the roof and apparently leaping off the prison grounds, officials said.

Joel Maldonado was reported missing from his assigned housing area at the sheriff’s Adelanto Detention Center shortly after midnight.

An extensive search of the jail and the surrounding area, aided by a helicopter, failed to locate the 25-year-old inmate, who remains at large, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Beavers.

“Obviously this is a real security issue,” Beavers said.

She declined to release details about how Maldonado gained access to the jail’s roof.

It is the first escape from the 700-bed jail, which opened under the sheriff’s jurisdiction in January 2006 and contains mostly dormitory-style housing.

The one-time private facility has been slated for a state-funded, $100-million expansion that would triple its capacity and modernize facilities. Budget constraints have put the project on hold.

Maldonado has been held at the High Desert jail since Jan. 22. He was arrested Dec. 3, 2008, in Ontario and initially lodged at the sheriff’s West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Ontario police had obtained a $1 million arrest warrant for Maldonado, alleging that he and another man used knives to kidnap, carjack, rob and assault several people in five incidents in November 2008 — three on the same day.

According to a criminal complaint filed at San Bernardino County Superior Court, Maldonado is charged with three counts of kidnapping for carjacking, four counts of second-degree robbery and single counts of assault with great bodily injury, attempted carjacking and assault with a deadly weapon.

“I don’t have evidence that they knew any of the victims,” said Deputy District Attorney Erica Gallegos. “I believe they were looking for easy targets.”

Maldonado has pleaded not guilty and was next scheduled to appear in court, along with the other defendant, on Tuesday to confirm a Sept. 3 preliminary hearing.

Though bail had been set at $1 million in the pending case, the suspect also was being detained without bail on a federal immigration hold to determine if he is in the country illegally, records show.

Maldonado is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and a tattoo reading “Catracho” on his back. He has connections to Ontario, Rialto and San Bernardino.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call sheriff’s dispatchers at 760-245-4211 or WeTip at 800-782-7463.