Supes address costs relating to illegals

On September 25, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors not only heard a report on the cost of illegal immigration to local governments but also provided recommendations to reimburse local governments for those costs.

The supervisors’ 5-0 vote directed the county’s Chief Administrative Officer to draft a letter for the signature of board chair Ron Roberts which will be addressed to US Representative Brian Bilbray, who chairs the Immigration Reform Caucus. That letter will request that Bilbray work through the caucus to discuss the possibility of directing Social Security “earning suspense file” revenue to local governments and restructuring Medicare guidelines to provide more money to cover the burden of local hospitals.

The study will also be forwarded by electronic mail to every county supervisor in the State of California and a bill will be sent to President Bush for the cost of the county’s services. Another recommendation calls for sharing information between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement to identify repeat acts of crime by the same illegal immigrant.

Dr. John Weeks presented a report he completed in conjunction with Dr. David Eisenberg. The estimated cost for county services for San Diego County’s estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants was approximately $101 million, which equates to a cost of $35.31 per legal resident. When the $155 million spent by hospitals on uncompensated healthcare is added, the cost per county taxpayer increases to $89.21.

“The local government is bearing the burden,” said Supervisor Bill Horn.

Approximately three-quarters of that cost is for public safety services. Health and environment services comprise most of the remainder, and indirect costs such as park and library usage were not included among the expenses.

“These are dollars that are coming directly out of our budget,” Roberts said.

The report also accounted for public financial benefits from illegal immigrants. Most illegal residents don’t own homes and thus don’t pay property tax directly, and little sales tax is generated from their purchases. The largest contribution is to the Social Security Administration’s “earning suspense file;” if a worker’s Social Security number doesn’t match that of the SSA records the payments are directed to the earning suspense file.

The contribution to the earning suspense file is estimated at $7 billion annually, and that money is currently used to subsidize the Social Security system. “Some portion of that money should in fact come back to the counties of residence of the immigrants,” Horn said. “It is actually the county taxpayer that is subsidizing Social Security, not the undocumented immigrant.”

Horn noted a paradox of Federal enforcement efforts; not only is little action taken against those who cross American borders illegally, but some immigration policies encourage illegal aliens to stay in the United States on a permanent basis rather than return to their own country each year. “Federal policy has definitely increased the probability that undocumented immigrants will stay in this country,” Horn said.

“The Federal government must own up,” Horn said. “I think they should have to pay for the consequence of their action.”

Bilbray was on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors before his 1994 election to Congress, and he was the mayor of Imperial Beach prior to his 1984 election to the Board of Supervisors. Bilbray did not personally attend the Board of Supervisors hearing but sent his district director, Christy Guerin.

“My boss would like every county in the nation to do exactly the same study,” Guerin said. “Congress is broken on this issue. We have failed to do our job.”

A former Encinitas mayor and city council member, Guerin noted that Federal reimbursement of the $100 million annual cost would allow local governments to fund roads, law enforcement officers, fire trucks, and other expenses.

“I think the President should get the study. I think the President should get a bill,” said Supervisor Dianne Jacob. “It’s outrageous to say the least, and it’s inexcusable.”

In 1990 illegal immigrants comprised an estimated 3.2 percent of the county’s population. By 2000 that figure had risen to 6.8 percent. “It’s gotten worse, and that’s what this study points out,” Jacob said.

More than one supervisor cited an Oceanside gang sweep in which only two of the 27 arrested gang members were in the United States legally. “The gang warfare and the cross-border gangs are a huge problem,” said Supervisor Pam Slater-Price.

Slater-Price noted that sending the study to the supervisors in all 58 counties would generate varying levels of interest. The study will also be incorporated into a Border Counties Coalition study in which 24 border counties in four states each assess the impact of undocumented immigrants. That report is currently embargoed by the US Department of Justice.

“This leaves the local residents to foot the bill for Federal negligence,” said Supervisor Greg Cox. “We need to be as aggressive as possible in attempting to get our reimbursements.”