Report Estimates Number of Illegal Immigrants

The 2006-07 Civil Grand Jury issued a far-ranging report on the effects of illegal immigration in Santa Barbara. The report states that credible estimates of the number of illegal immigrants in the county range from 25,000 to 75,000. The jury recommended that medical and educational service providers, who cannot turn people away, should check clients’ immigration status simply for the sake of obtaining better data. The grand jurors suggested that the county human resources department test Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification and Entitlements (SAVE) program.