Date:
Contact Person:
Phone Number:

October 5th, 2009
Chief of Staff Michael P. Sharkey
(631) 852-2220

   Sheriff Vincent F. DeMarco Announces $2.5 Million Award from the U.S. Department of Justice

Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent F. DeMarco announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice has awarded Suffolk County $2,559,573 for participation in the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) for the year 2008.  The Sheriff’s Office has participated in this program since 1997 and has received approximately $15 million to date.

The program is designed to defray the County’s cost for housing criminal aliens.  The Department of Justice defines a criminal alien as a person who is undocumented, and sometime in the past has been convicted of a felony or two misdemeanors. 

In 2008, 804 illegal aliens were discharged for deportation hearings to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.).  This year 589 illegal aliens have already been discharged with I.C.E. detainers. 

Sheriff Vincent F. DeMarco stated that, “This program has been an integral part of dealing with the burgeoning costs of housing criminal aliens in Suffolk County. Our management and partnership with I.C.E., along with this funding, goes a long way toward relieving the tax burden which would otherwise be borne by Suffolk County taxpayers.”

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