(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations
Committee, announced that she included $5 million in additional funding to aid
with border-related prosecutions in the Fiscal Year 2011 Senate Commerce,
Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill that was that was approved today
by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“I’m proud to continue to
provide investments to relieve Northern Border communities of the devastating
cost of prosecuting border-related crimes,” said Senator Patty Murray. “I’m committed
to continue providing our border communities with the resources they need to
keep our border safe.”
The Northern Border Prosecution Initiative (NBPI) helps local communities
pay for judicial, penal, and enforcement expenses that result from federal
border-related crime, such as captured international fugitives and
international drug trafficking. When the U.S. Department of Justice declines to
prosecute these federal border-related crimes, that burden often falls on
Northern Border communities to prosecute them under state law.
Southern border communities have had access to similar grants for years, and
Senator Murray has been outspoken about this inequity. Last month, Senator
Murray sent
a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano urging ongoing
support for existing and future operations along the northern border.
The funding in the initiative is distributed
by a formula payment based on the number of days from the time that the U.S.
Attorney’s office declines to take a case until the day that the county/city
resolves the case. The Northern Border Prosecutor Initiative pays for
jail costs, judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys.
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