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After delay, S.B. County locating aliens in jails

Mason Stockstill, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

ONTARIO - After an initial delay, San Bernardino County jails officials have begun checking the immigration status of inmates for possible deportation.
A computer glitch delayed the start of the jail checks, said Virginia Kice of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but the situation has been remedied.

"The computers are up, they're working, and actually the folks with the Sheriff's Department have been doing inmate reviews for at least a week," Kice said.

The employees who were to perform the jail checks finished their training in January, Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said.

"There was a delay in them receiving the computers and equipment that was necessary in getting the program started," Beavers said.

The San Bernardino County grand jury criticized the program's late start in a scathing report released last month on crowding at county jails.

Because there are so few available beds, thousands of sentenced criminals have been released early to free up space in the jail system.

The effort to remove deportable aliens from the county jails was expected to help ease that crowding, according to the report, which was released March 2.

"However, a delay by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in providing the necessary computer networking to interface with the sheriff's computer system has placed this project on hold," the report states.

Enforcing immigration law is a federal responsibility, but Congress in 1996 approved changes to the Immigration and Nationality Act allowing state and local law enforcement agencies to identify, process and detain people who violate U.S. immigration law.

The law only refers to people whom law enforcement agencies come into contact with during their regular course of business.

Officials in Los Angeles County jails also check the immigration status of inmates, and Riverside County will soon participate in the program as well, Kice said.

In San Bernardino County, the Sheriff's Department has a staff of nine civilian employees who completed ICE's four-week training and certification program in January, allowing them to check the immigration status of inmates in the county jail system.

A year ago, Sheriff Gary Penrod first suggested the program, and the Board of Supervisors approved the plan in August.

The more than 7,000 illegal immigrants booked into county jail each year cost more than $11 million annually to incarcerate. Removing them could save money, Penrod said.

Additionally, having a more accurate count of how many illegal immigrants had been detained and held by the county would make it easier to obtain reimbursements from the federal government for those costs, 2nd District Supervisor Paul Biane said.

"Even though there are limited funds, we should see a larger share of those," Biane said at the time.

Under the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, counties and states can receive grants that partially cover what they spend to hold illegal immigrants in jails and prisons. In fiscal year 2005, $287 million was distributed through the program.


Mason Stockstill can be reached by e-mail at mason.stockstill@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9354.