OCRegister:

It seems only fair that if the federal government can't or won't stop illegal immigration, it should at least help states pay for the costs that its failure imposes on them. And yet, every year the feds seem to do less about controlling illegal immigration while at the same time trying to fork over less money for the problems it causes.

Consider the Bush administration's proposed budget that would eliminate funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.

The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or SCAAP, was designed to help reimburse state and local governments for the cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants who are convicted of state crimes after entering this country...

...Last year, Congress and the administration cut the funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program by almost half, to $301 million nationally, with $120 million going to California. Last year, the California Department of Corrections received just $77 million from SCAAP - which was only a little more than a tenth of what criminal aliens cost our state prison system.

Now in his proposed budget, President Bush wants to eliminate the SCAAP money...