Antonovich sends letter to urge congress to reinstate federal funding to help pay for criminal illegal aliens.

A motion by Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich will send a five-signature letter to President Obama and members of Congress to have the federal government pay for the high cost of incarcerating criminal illegal aliens under the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP).

“The federal government’s failure to cover the high costs of incarcerating criminal illegal aliens, shifts another unfunded responsibility to County taxpayers already overburdened with over $1 billion dollars in healthcare, welfare, public safety and other costs resulting from the federal government’s failure to enforce its borders,” said Supervisor Antonovich.

Currently SCAAP provides funding on a reimbursable basis to state and local agencies who incarcerate criminal illegal aliens, but President Obama’s recently proposed 2010 fiscal budget has cut all funding for this program for the next fiscal year.

The letter, sent by Supervisor Antonovich, is advocating the reinstatement of the funding to help ease the burden on a financially struggling California, who houses a disproportionably large number of criminal illegal aliens.

Although the funding was cut in the early stages of the proposed budget, a $2 billion Southwest Border Initiative has been provided to fight illegal immigration on the front end, said a Department of Justice representative who asked to remain anonymous.

“It was a policy move to cut the program to put resources towards giving states and communities what they need to combat crime, not pay for it after somebody’s incarcerated,” they said.

In addition to that funding the house returned the initial $400 million in its proposal that is now awaiting senate approval before returning to the President.

So as of Thursday afternoon, SCAAP funding all hinges on senate approval which, if won, would be presented with the budget to President Obama for his signature.