The U.S. Department of Justice awarded $67,190 to the county as part of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program for fiscal year 2007-2008.
The grant was based on illegal alien inmate numbers from 2006-2007, Montrose County Jail Administrator Jim Gerlach said.
|
Advertisement |
The cost per day for housing alien inmates is $55. A contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) provides compensation to the county. The SCAT grant takes the payments ICE already made into consideration and usually deducts that from the grant amount.
"They come and go," Gerlach said of inmates who are here illegally. "Daily, we don't have as many as we get on those grants. ... Obviously, everybody's not approved and that's why you'll turn in numbers that are not always the number that's granted. They won't pay us twice."
The jail holds illegal immigrants who are suspected of committing crimes in the local jurisdiction. Local law enforcement does not specifically seek out illegal immigrants and arrest them on that basis alone, as this is the federal government's job.
"When we get any person that was not born in the United States, we will call immigration upon their arrest," Gerlach said. "Immigration and Customs Enforcement will come and interview them and determine if they're legally here or not. They (ICE) will set up the deportation procedure."
Inmates have to answer to their local charges and, if convicted, must serve whatever sentence is imposed on those charges before being deported. They may not illegally re-enter the U.S. Doing so constitutes a separate federal offense and, in most cases, results in federal prison time upon conviction.
Montrose County was able to secure its SCAT grants by contracting with Justice Benefits, Inc., of Dallas, which handled the complicated paperwork and also actively seeks out lesser-known grants to benefit the sheriff's agency. The company takes a 22 percent fee from the grant awarded.
"It's great we can work with JBI because they spend a lot of time and resources we don't have to collect these federal funds for us," Sheriff Rick Dunlap said in a news release from the county.
Gerlach said the grant itself was very helpful. "It's extremely rewarding to us because of our inability to collect funds for those inmates and the time spent by the detention center and local law enforcement."
• Be respectful of others, the writer and the subjects in the story.
• Be relevant. Keep your comments on point.
• See the guidelines for TalkAbout. Perhaps your comment is best for that community forum, available from the home page, instead of commenting on a particular story.
Comment posters are responsible for the opinions they express and the accuracy of the information they provide. We urge comment writers to treat this as a public forum where manners matter. We encourage a collegial, non-insulting tone. All readers comments must be approved by our staff before posting to the Web site. Be aware, in accordance with the Communications Decency Act and provisions upheld in judicial appeal, that you are responsible for comments posted on this Web site. Montrose Press is not liable for messages from third parties.
DO NOT POST:
* Potentially libelous statements or damaging innuendo.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults or threats.
* The use of another person's real name to disguise your identity.
* Comments unrelated to the story.
Opinions, advice and all other information expressed in montrosepress.com's reader comments represent the individual's own views and not necessarily those of the Montrose Press. Montrose Press does not endorse and is not responsible for statements, advice or opinions offered by anyone other than authorized Montrose Press spokespersons.
Thank you for your comments!