Census data, INS border crossing data, Border Patrol apprehension data, newspaper accounts, public documents, and public testimony in congressional hearings were analyzed. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders and documents concerning county budgets, U.S. This study examined two research questions: (1) How does providing law enforcement, criminal justice, and emergency medical services to illegal immigrants affect the workload of each county department in the border States, and (2) what are the financial costs? Site visits were conducted in each county between February 2000 and December 2000. As such, border States are under increasing financial strain to support the influx of illegal immigrants that must be processed through the criminal justice system. Once in custody, local tax money must pay for any medical services, autopsies, or burials that are necessary in the care of the illegal immigrant. They are also rarely transferred to the Federal justice system because most are caught with amounts of illegal drugs that are below the unofficial threshold for Federal involvement. Illegal immigrants arrested for drug smuggling are not deported, rather they are processed through the local criminal justice system. The southwestern States that share a border with Mexico–Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California - are put under strain when they must process illegal immigrants caught with illegal drugs.
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