Senator HUTCHISON. and Senator CORNYN. It has passed the Senate on two previous occasions. including last year as part of the Senates 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. Specifically. the amendment establishes a competitive grant program within the Department of Homeland Security to help local law enforcement that is situated along our borders to cover some of the costs they incur as a result of having to deal with illegal immigration. with drug trafficking. with stolen vehicles. and with other borderrelated crimes. The amendment authorizes $50 million a year to enable law enforcement within 100 miles of the border to hire additional personnel and obtain the equipment and cover the overtime and transportation costs they incur in these activities. Law enforcement outside of this geographic limit that is provided for in the amendment would be eligible if the Secretary of Homeland Security certified that they were located in a "High Impact Area." The United States shares 5.525 miles of border with Canada and 1.989 miles of border with Mexico. Many of the local law enforcement agencies that are located along these borders are small. rural departments that are charged with patrolling large areas of land with very few officers and very limited resources. According to a 2001 study of the U.S.-Mexico Border Counties Coalition. criminal justice costs associated with illegal immigration exceed $89 million each year. Counties along the southwest border are some of the poorest in the country and are not in a good position to cover these additional costs. For far too long. local law enforcement agencies operating along our borders have had to incur significant costs due to the inability of Government to secure our Nations borders.
Keywords matched
illegal immigration