California's senior senator says the federal government should pay the cost of keeping undocumented migrants in jail. She says the current law doesn't go far enough. KPBS reporter Andrew Phelps has details.
It costs California hundreds of millions of dollars a year to incarcerate undocumented migrants who've been arrested. The federal government pays only in cases that end in convictions.
Scott Gerber is a spokesman for Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. He says the existing program, known as SCAAP , is underfunded.
Gerber : The federal government only appropriated 400 million or so for this program. California could take the entire share of that. So we want to make sure the money that is appropriated does get back to the states and local governments that are paying the costs. And California bears a disproportionate share.
Feinstein has introduced a bill that would reimburse states and local governments for all incarceration costs within four months.
Andrew Phelps, KPBS News.
