President Obama has proposed $3,700,000,000 in additional funding for the following items:
1) $1,800,000,000 for "detention facilities for children and families" (translation: some pretty nice family housing); this translates into approximately $35,000 per person to build illegal immigrant housing facilities - for a family of 4, that would be $140,000, which could build a pretty nice modular housing unit;
2) $879,000,000 for prosecuting adults traveling with these children;
3) $295,000,000 for "Central American Governments" to stop their own citizens from leaving for the USA;
4) $45,000,000 for 40 more immigration judge teams;
5) $5,000,000 for advertising campaigns in the US to discourage illegal immigration to the USA
6) Leaving a mere $700,000,000 in funds going towards unknown purposes, but would apparently include over-time pay for Border Patrol agents.
Obama is calling this an "emergency funding request", though labeling this an "emergency" is inaccurate on its face, at least as I understand an emergency. This problem has been known for 8 months, and the administration has been unwilling to visit and console the "victims" of this "emergency" by visiting the border or the numerous "detention facilities" throughout the country.
Above: click to enlarge. You can read the most recent (2013) census of the homeless in SLO county by clicking on this link to the report in pdf format.
How many homeless people are there in SLO? According to the 2013 homeless census, around 2,200. Extrapolating from that number, there are about 3,500 who are homeless for part or all of 2013. Unfortunately, this report does not make clear how many of the 2,200 homeless were under 18, but I can get it is a large percentage.
I have massive empathy for the children that have flocked en masse over our border and into our country. Given the expensive ($5,000 to $12,000 per child) fees charged by Mexican criminal coyotes to transport 1 child across Mexico and into the USA, these are not poor parents sending their children here (who has that kind of money?). However, what kind of parent would risk turning over their children to drug cartel coyotes to make the 2,000 mile (Mexico's a big country - look at a map!) crossing through Mexico? Is life in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala so bad that I would risk my child's life with such a dangerous crossing? Please note: I don't know the answer to that question.
Final thoughts: It is staggering how much money our Federal Government wastes, while we, the people, struggle on tiny budgets to do far more good. At the homeless shelter overflow, located at a local church, we house 30 to 45 homeless people EVERY NIGHT with volunteers, and the actual costs for us to do this is about $500 - $700 for the ENTIRE MONTH!
Let's play with that math: At that rate of expense, we could house all 50,000 Central American Illegal Immigrants for $750,000 per month. With Obama's proposed $3,700,000,000 in funding, we could house (but not feed) all 50,000 of them for 14 years!
