Immigration Incarceration Heart of Debate

SACRAMENTO — Adding to the immigration debate, state Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero has scheduled a hearing Thursday in Los Angeles on the cost of holding illegal-immigrant convicts in state prisons and why the federal government isn’t paying more.

Romero, D-Los Angeles, estimated the state pays as much as $868 million a year to incarcerate up to 28,000 felons who are immigrants, including many who entered the country illegally.

The prison system costs state taxpayers about $6 billion a year, and the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates the current budget deficit at $6.7 billion.

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