State Treasurer Dean Martin, widely expected to announce his bid for Arizona governor, is sending a bill for the state’s uncompensated prison costs for incarcerating convicted criminal illegal aliens to free-wheeling spender, and former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, now U.S. Homeland Security Secretary. The total tab, including interest, exceeds $1 billion — money our cash-strapped state could use.
“The cost of illegal immigration has exhausted the Arizona State Treasury. In order to pay for the federal government’s responsibility of securing our national borders and incarcerating individuals who enter the United States illegally and commit crimes, the state has incurred hundreds of millions of dollars of debt to pay these bills,” Martin said.
As governor, Janet Napolitano in her own March 17, 2008 invoice wrote, “The federal government is required by law to pay these costs, but has failed to pay more than pennies on the dollar.”
“The updated invoice, including accrued interest, is over one billion dollars,” said Martin. In an unveiled warning he advised, “Illegal immigration has literally broken the bank here in Arizona. Napolitano is now responsible for securing our borders and is in a position to make good on the bill that she said the federal government owed. It’s time for this bill to be paid before legal remedies are pursued to recoup this long overdue debt to Arizona taxpayers.”
Read the letter accompanying Martin’s invoices here.
8 U.S.C. § 1231(i)(2), requires that the federal government “provides for compensation to the State. . .with respect to the incarceration of the undocumented criminal alien” and the compensation be based upon “average cost of incarceration of a prisoner in the relevant State,” Martin reminded Napolitano.
Seeing Red AZ 
J-No’s bill to the Feds. was no more than a PR stunt. While she was writing an invoice with one hand she was holding the gate wide open with the other.
Martin is quite a bit more credible in his attempt to invoice DHS and the U.S. Attorney.
By the way, I notice Dean Martin has not announced for reeelction to the Treasurer’s office…wonder why that could be? It could only mean he WILL announce for Governor. The sooner the better in my book.
In 2006 Dean Martin wrote Prop. 300 ending taxpayer subsidezed college tuition for illegal aliens. This was the farce in which illegal aliens were considered “in-state” students. Illegals were eligible for the “in-state” taxpayer funded subsidy and our out-of-state American citizen relatives were not.
Marin’s common sense solutions and no-nonsense approach are going to revitalize this state once he’s elected to the 9th Flr. in 2010!
Hey, Tom –
Is that Cheech Marin? ;-)