Immigration Policy Project

National Conference of State Legislatures
Council of State Governments
National Association of Counties
National League of Cities

March 7, 2007

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
S-220 Capitol Building
Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate
S-230 Capitol Building
Washington, DC 20510

RE: This Letter Outlines NCSL's Primary Concerns In Immigration Reform

Dear Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell:

As organizations representing state and local government elected officials, we recognize the challenges facing our country in matters relating to immigration. It is critical that we address both the security and economic needs of states and communities while acknowledging our history as a nation of immigrants. We look forward to continuing our work with you as you seek to comprehensively reform our nation’s immigration laws.

This letter outlines our primary concerns as immigration reform legislation moves forward. Comprehensive immigration reform legislation requires an intergovernmental partnership because all of us are dealing every day with the reality of our current immigration system. We urge your support for the following state and local government priorities:

Immigration reform legislation must unequivocally state that the role of state and local law enforcement is limited to criminal, not civil, immigration laws.
Immigration reform legislation must contain full funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.
Immigration reform legislation must ensure that state and local government are able to address public health concerns of their communities and prevent cost-shifts for the provision of basic and emergency health care services.
Immigration reform legislation should build on state and local government capacity to integrate newcomers into communities.
Immigration reform legislation must provide full funding for English as a Second Language instruction.
Immigration reform must include a guaranteed funding for health, human service and education programs and services provided by state and local governments to immigrant populations.

Immigration and Law Enforcement. Under current law, state and local law enforcement authorities are charged with enforcing criminal immigration violations. In 2005, House-passed immigration reform legislation (H.R. 4437) proposed to shift the federal responsibility of enforcing civil immigration law to state and local law government, diverting critical resources from state and local law enforcement agencies and compromising public safety. Furthermore, this legislation failed to provide training to state and local officers regarding the complexities of immigration law, risking complaints of racial profiling, compromising successful community policing efforts and exposing governments to increased liability from the very communities that they serve. Enforcement of federal immigration laws is a federal responsibility and should remain so with the exception of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) process. This alternative currently used by states such as Alabama and Florida and counties such as Los Angeles County and Mecklenburg County gives states and localities the option to enter into a voluntary formal agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. When training under the MOU process is fully funded by the federal government, we view this as a viable way to give communities the choice of whether local enforcement of federal immigration laws is appropriate for them.

The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. The burden of incarcerating unauthorized immigrants who have committed crimes, been convicted and are serving their time in state and local jails should be fully borne by the federal government. The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) is a program through which states are reimbursed for the costs associated with incarcerating unauthorized aliens. SCAAP currently reimburses state and local governments for approximately 25 percent of the total costs incurred. There have been repeated efforts by the federal government to zero out this funding, including in the President’s FY 2008 budget. Shifting these costs to cities and states weakens the intergovernmental partnership to combat crime. No immigration reform legislation will be complete without due attention to both the programmatic and fiscal aspects of SCAAP.

Health Care. A third issue of concern to state and local governments is the provision of health care services to immigrant populations, including temporary workers. Currently, public hospital emergency rooms are often the first point of entry when this population needs medical care. The costs are significant as medical conditions are often in an advanced stage. As states and local governments enhance their partnership with the federal government in anti-terrorism activities, we are concerned about effectively providing public health services, which include encouraging residents to seek emergency health care and report disease to health officials in order to control potential bioterrorism threats, SARS, and avian flu. It is important that any immigration reform bill address health care planning and services that remove the burden from public hospitals and take into consideration the necessity of public health interventions. One potential way to address both of these concerns would be to increase the capacity of community health centers to serve this population. Additional funding for these community institutions is necessary to accomplish this. Community health centers are located in both rural and urban settings and are accustomed to addressing public health concerns. Expanding their role and capacity would reduce the use of public hospital emergency rooms as the first point of entry to medical care and would also provide a vehicle into immigrant communities to address public health concerns.

Education and Civic Integration. We believe that it is imperative to provide language instruction and education to newcomers to our country in order to accomplish successful integration into American society and culture. English-language acquisition is essential for newcomers, including temporary workers. Substantial federal support for English-language instruction would enable states and towns to better educate children and adults and help to integrate these newcomers into our communities. As state and local government elected officials we find that the inability to communicate and understand each other serves as a flash point for aggravating tensions between newcomers and citizens. Assisting state and local government in English-language instruction for newcomers can help to alleviate these tensions and improve overall community relations.

Funding. The Senate passed S. 2611 during the 109^th Congress. It included a section ensuring that state and local governments would have a reliable, guaranteed funding source to manage the fiscal impacts of providing health, education and social services to immigrant populations, including temporary and guest workers. It assured state legislative appropriation of these federal funds, providing accountability for application of these funds to vital services. We urge inclusion of this or a somewhat similar provision in comprehensive Senate immigration reform legislation this year.

We welcome all opportunities to work together with you to develop a comprehensive immigration reform bill that honors our immigrant heritage and addresses the numerous policy areas we have discussed.

Sincerely,

William T. Pound
Executive Director
National Conference of State Legislatures Dan Sprague
Executive Director
Council of State Governments

Larry Naake
Executive Director
National Association of Counties
Donald J. Borut
Executive Director
National League of Cities