County Spending Millions on Illegal Immigrants (Daily Press 070106)

The county of San Bernardino is caught in the tight rope of the Illegal Immigration walk. They are stuck paying Millions upon Millions to take care of Illigal Immigrants for medical needs and the like. they flee their country to get the better medcial coverage here in the USA! In fact they might even bring their children here to the Inland Empire just because we have the Loma Linda Childrens Hospital right here in Loma Linda. Just One of the TOP, Childrens Medical Facilities Avalable for the use of chidren with problems. the other one that is in Southern California, is located North of Downtown Los Angeles, it is the Childrens Hospital ran by the City of Los Angeles or the county of Los angeles.

What is so hard is realizing that they are running accross the boarder to bring their sick children here to get cancer, surgery, corrective bipasses done to their children all on the expense of the county of the Inland Empire. The County Hospital or Arrowhead Medical Facility is were they start. They get a diagnosis from Arrowhead Medical Hospital. The doctor at Arrowhead feels that the work cannot be done at their facility so they refer the family to Loma Linda Children's Hospital, where the surgery is done. The bill is all referred back to Arrowhead Medical Hospital, which is a San Bernardino County run Facility, and then they skip back to Mexico, or they stay in the states, but move to another part of the state.

The County of San Bernardino is stuck with that childs bill, but this happens for more then just children. This happens with adults too.

It is a sick circle that I wish could be fixed but it cannot seem to be unless the Federal Government steps in and gets the Border's Closed!!! They are on a Good start with the assisstance of the Border Patrol with the use of the National Guard!!

BSRanch...

County spending millions on illegal immigrants

By TRACIE TROHA Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO — San Bernardino County is spending an estimated $38 million annually on health, child care and legal services for illegal immigrants, according to the county grand jury’s new report.

The final report, released on Friday, calls for the Board of Supervisors to require all county departments and agencies to begin tracking and publishing the cost of providing services to illegal immigrants.

Publishing these costs, the report stated, might encourage state and federal governments to “finally take action to solve this issue.”

Of the county’s 58 departments and agencies, at least 20 provide some type of service to illegal immigrants. Only six of those departments were able to give the grand jury a cost estimate for those services.

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center estimates it spends nearly $9 million a year for the treatment of illegal immigrants. ARMC spokesman Jorge Valencia said the federal government reimburses the facility for a portion of those funds, through the federal Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.

“It’s a good thing, because that money wasn’t available to us before,” Valencia said.

He added, however, that the hospital does not ask if patients are illegal, so the cost is determined through a “deducing process.”

The county district attorney and public defender offices each estimate spending $9 million a year for the prosecution and defense of illegal immigrants. The county sheriff and coroner estimate spending $11 million every year on jail costs for those who enter the country illegally, while the Probation Department spends $773,300 annually.

The county also spends a total of $316,232 annually on children’s services for illegal immigrants, including child care, medical treatment, foster care, preschool services, child welfare and food stamps. However, the county is reimbursed at least $173,683, or 55 percent, for some of these children’s services, according to the report.

“The costs for illegal immigrant services provided by the other 14 departments who have no idea of the amount would add substantially to this cost,” the report stated. “There are additional costs for cities to provide services. Obviously, the costs to the federal and state governments have to be enormous.”

The grand jury also recommends that county counsel provide a legal opinion on how to determine the number of illegal immigrant children are in public schools

Other recommendations made by the grand jury include:

Develop a rate structure for air ambulance providers and make emergency communication centers aware at all times of the status of air ambulance equipment.

Increase the public defender’s staff and create a policy that the public defender’s office not accept clients that have the financial resources to hire an attorney.

Relocate the coroner’s High Desert facility until a new facility can be built and increase the coroner’s staff.

Expand the Adelanto Detention Center to add 700 beds.

Return all illegal immigrants being held in county facilities to the U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement.

Immediately build a new adult jail facility on the land purchased in Apple Valley.

Tracie Troha may be reached at 955-5358 or ttroha@vvdailypress.com.