Friday, August 20, 2010 - 9:05am
According to State Health and Corrections Department, the cost of keeping illegal immigrants in prison and providing them with medical care, exceeded $250 million dollars in 2009.
The statement came before that House State Affairs Committee as lawmakers faced a projected state budget shortfall of up to $18 billion. Brownsville's State Representative Rene Oliveira says an Arizona type law, allowing for police to question everyone about their citizenship status, could fill every jail in Texas and break county budgets.