Thread: IL-Police to check suspects’ names in immigrant database

Police to check suspects’ names in immigrant database
Lake, McHenry and Will counties join initiative to cross-check suspects’ names in Homeland Security files

Extradition By Oscar Avila, Tribune reporter

8:38 p.m. CDT, April 13, 2010


The names of suspects booked at most major suburban Chicago jails now will be run through federal immigration databases in an effort to deport illegal immigrants more effectively.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said Tuesday that Lake, McHenry and Will counties will join authorities in DuPage and Kane as part of the "Secure Communities" initiative.

Anyone booked into county jails and most local lockups, even those facing relatively minor charges such as driving with an open container of alcohol, will be automatically cross-checked for immigration violations.

Some experts and advocacy groups have criticized bringing local police into federal immigration enforcement, fearing that immigrants will be less likely to cooperate with police.

But David Venturella, the initiative's executive director, said local law enforcement is a key link in identifying criminal immigrants. For years, immigration authorities have been forced to explain how some criminals eluded deportation.

"Nobody wants criminals to be released into the community and re-offend. We hope, through this, that those gaps will be closed," he said.

Although local authorities have access to FBI records of criminal histories, the initiative will allow them to tap into a wide-reaching Department of Homeland Security database that includes not only photos and fingerprints of those arrested in the U.S. but of foreigners intercepted at the border and even those denied visas overseas.

U.S. officials hope to expand the effort to make it nationwide by 2013.

Cook County is not part of the program. Steve Patterson, a Cook County Sheriff's Department spokesman, said the county's "sanctuary" ordinance limits his agency's ability to enter into formal collaborations with immigration authorities.

Because of a shortage of detention facilities and manpower, Venturella said authorities will focus on the most dangerous criminals, including those convicted of murder. But he said the initiative has led to the discovery and deportation of illegal immigrants accused of minor crimes.

McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren downplayed the risk of the initiative provoking fear among immigrants.

"We are still there to work with law-abiding citizens," he said.

oavila@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-m ... 0224.story

Woooo hoooo!!!!! I live in Lake County which is over-run with illegals acting as if they own the place. It will be good to see them go home. Waiting for Margaret Carasco . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . RAAAACIIIISM.