Coloradans Pay Millions Annually To Jail Illegal Immigrants
Article publisher:
CBS 4 Denver
Article date:
18 May 2017
Article category:
Colorado News
Medium
Article Body:
Colorado taxpayers paid more than $522 million to imprison illegal immigrants [illegal aliens] convicted of crimes over the past 20 years, according to a CBS4 investigation.
The figure, which exceeds a half billion dollars, is drawn from a Colorado Department of Corrections analysis of its State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) applications, a federal grant program designed to offset some costs of incarcerating people in the country illegally. To receive SCAAP funding, state prisons and county jails provide the Department of Justice with a list of names of illegal immigrants and the number of days each served behind bars...
In fiscal year 2015... 1,992 illegal immigrants in the Colorado prison system, costing taxpayers $59.7 million, where illegal immigrants made up 7.8 percent of Colorado’s prison population.
- The City of Denver listed 828 names on its 2016 SCAAP report, or 7.6% of its jail population, costing taxpayers $3.9 million.
- Adams County listed 490 names, or 13.3% of its jail population, costing taxpayers $5.3 (after calculating the cost of incarceration at a higher rate).
- Weld County listed 311 names, or 8.8% of its jail population, costing taxpayers $2 million.
- Arapahoe County listed 223 names, or 4.5% of its jail population, costing taxpayers $1.4 million.
- Jefferson County listed 100 names, or 3.1% of its jail population, costing taxpayers $1 million.
...
Through the SCAAP program, the federal government is reimbursing Colorado roughly 4 percent of the cost of incarcerating people...
The Trump Administration is proposing doing away altogether with those SCAAP reimbursements, completely shifting the entire cost to state and local taxpayers.
CAIRCO Research
Weekes: Taxpayers footing millions in Colorado’s criminal alien sanctuary city policies, Stan Weekes, Colorado Statesman, February 21, 2017.