Antonovich Says Gangs, Illegal Immigration Go Hand In Hand

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said today that  controlling the borders and increasing enforcement of immigration law is paramount in the effort to combat gangs.

“The strategy announced by the City of Los Angeles to combat gangs turns a blind eye to the huge impact of illegal immigration,” said Antonovich.  “Twenty-five percent of inmates in our county jail system are self-declared foreign born inmates – more than half of them are deportable criminal aliens. 

“The cost to our county’s justice system has skyrocketed to $220 million dollars a year which includes arrest, incarceration, prosecution, defense and probation,” Antonovich said.  “The number of Los Angeles County jail inmates identified as suspected illegal immigrants nearly doubled since January, 2006 when we initiated a program with Federal Immigration officials to identify illegals in the jails.”