Rick Perry bills DHS for the costs of detaining illegal aliens in Texas
August 27, 2011
Most of the rumors of Rick Perry’s past have been debunked by those who are supporting him, but there is one issue that still worries my quite a bit about Rick Perry’s past; illegal immigration and his support of the DREAM Act in Texas. I am in the process of giving him a good, hard look but I am still having trouble with this issue, so I have been looking for something to tell me that my fears are misguided.
And today I might have found it because Rick Perry has billed the Department of Homeland Security for the costs of Texas’s detaining of illegal aliens to the tune of almost $350 million.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for nearly $350 million to cover the costs he says Texas has incurred incarcerating illegal immigrants in state prisons and county jails.In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Perry reiterated a claim he’s often leveled against the federal government: that it’s not doing enough to secure the border with Mexico and as a result, has allowed illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. and use taxpayer-funded resources
Several states have passed legislation to deal with the issue of illegal immigration–the most famous case being Arizona–but the Obama regime is suing these states by claiming that immigration law is a federal issue and beyond the jurisdiction of the states. So it would seem to me that if immigration law is a federal issue that it should be up to the federal government to pay the bill for the states for costs incurred for a federal responsibility.
Still being a little leery of Rick Perry, I have to admit that this moves seems to be politically motivated to me because of the timing. Rick Perry submitted this bill three days before he made his announcement that he was running for president and he knew that this would be an issue for him moving forward so he looked to assuage the fears of the Tea Party by this maneuver.
However, it he pulls this off it will be a major victory for him in the primaries and it can only help him gain support in the Tea Party. And a recent poll shows him ahead among Tea Party Republicans over Mitt Romney by about twenty points–this can only help him.
This may be a political victory for Rick Perry, but it still does nothing about the illegal immigration problem and I am very interested in hearing what he has to say about securing the border and illegal immigration, and amnesty in general, as the process moves on.
America's Watchtower 
Nice catch, Steve. I’m with you. I want to hear where he stands on amnesty for illegals. I still worry that he bends with the wind a bit much.
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Thanks, I am holding out my judgement on Perry for the moment but he does seem to have some positives. And with the current choices we have he may turn out to be the best choice.
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I love it, look for a lawsuit from the DOJ. The reality is the majority of illegals tgat are here arnt going anywhere, why let the dems get the advantage of the hispanic vote. It would be smart of the republicans not to disinfranchise them completly. Obamas is down in the forties with hispanics. I think bush was trying to win favor, what the hell if you cant beat em……………
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There is no doubt that the Republicans are unwilling to do anything about illegal aliens because many of them do want the cheap labor, but the fact is that they are never going to vote for Republicans anyway so why try to win them over?
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I share your concerns, Steve. And I don’t think Perry/Texas has a prayer’s chance of getting that money — at least not while Obama’s in office. (He has much more important things to spend it on, of course.) Still, the suit does have a put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is sort of feel to it. As you say, if the feds insist that (illegal) immigration is their responsibility, then they ought to at least share the costs for their failure. If nothing else, people are talking, which keeps the issue alive.
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I don’t think he has a chance of getting the money either, but this does turn the tables on the feds and it will be interesting to see this play out.
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It’s already been mentioned that the federal government should stand behind their assertion that illegal immigration is their problem. That’s true. They have been all over the news and in the courts, claiming the states have standing to deal with illegal immigrants. If that claim holds true, they should pay the states for the cost of dealing with the federal problem.
If I were Rick Perry, I wouldn’t hold my breath, waiting for the check to show up in the mail.
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It seems only fair doesn’t it? If the feds want the responsibility they should get the bill as well.
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