Thread: CA-Prisons Crowded with Illegal Inmates

Special Report: Prisons Crowded with Illegal Inmates
Chip Yost, KTLA News

July 18, 2008, 12:06 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES -- The numbers can look staggering. Nearly 20,000 inmates in California's state prison system have ICE holds on them, meaning there's a good chance they're illegal immigrants. More than 3,000 of those inmates are serving time for murder.

Because many of those convicts likely spent time in and out of local jails before committing the crimes that landed them in state prison, federal officials have begun working with more city and county jails to try to identify and deport more illegal immigrants earlier in their criminal careers.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's employees started working with ICE agents in 2006. Now, every week, county employees interview more than 100 inmates to try to determine their immigration status. The county employees have access to federal computers, including a fingerprint database that can match inmate fingerprints to see if the inmate has ever been deported.

The county employees often use the fingerprint database when they suspect the inmate they are interviewing is lying about his or her immigration status. Ms. Garza, a county jail custody assistant who didn't want her first name used, told us that about 90 percent of the time, the fingerprint database scores a hit.

The fact they're going to then get deported doesn't always bother them.

"We're going to come right back," is a common response from the inmates, Ms. Garza says.

That's one of the reasons Ms. Garza has a job. ICE hopes to establish some sort of similar relationship with every jail in America, in hopes it will deter the revolving door of illegal immigrants who come right back over the door after getting deported.

"At that point, there's going to be a real punitive reason for these individuals to fear coming into our country and committing crimes," said Brian DeMore, Field Office Director for ICE's Detention & Removal Operations in Los Angeles.

But not everyone is a fan of giving local officials federal responsibilities.

"You wouldn't have local law officials be your IRS agents and they shouldn't be ICE agents either," said Mark Rosenbaum of the ACLU.

Rosenbaum represents Pedro Guzman, a U.S. Citizen with reported mental problems who was deported last year after signing documents saying he was in the country illegally. There have also been cases where illegal immigrants have served time in the county jail and been released without ever being identified by the immigration screeners.

But ICE and county officials say such examples don't show that there is a breakdown in the system. It's just the reality that the system isn't perfect.

"There's no overall database where you punch in someone's name and fingerprints and it says 'American Citizen," said Lt. Kevin Kuykendall, who oversees the screening program inside Los Angeles County's jail system.

Despite the flaws, Kuykendall says the program has made the community safer. Since it started in 2006, he says Los Angeles County employees have screened about 20,000 inmates, and turned about 11,000 of those over to immigration agents for possible deportation.

"I would say it's a win win , because criminals - if they get deported - they're not in our communities committing more crimes," Kuykendall said.

DeMore says the U.S. Attorney's Office is also trying to do more to deter the deported immigrants from coming right back over the border. He says federal prosecutors are filing more cases on federal immigration violations, forcing many of the immigrants to spend time in federal prison before being deported to their home countries. DeMore says in Los Angeles, prosecutions for such offenses are up 400 percent.


http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-illegal-i ... 8918.story

"There's no overall database where you punch in someone's name and fingerprints and it says 'American Citizen," said Lt. Kevin Kuykendall, who oversees the screening program inside Los Angeles County's jail system.

There should be, after all the government already HAS that info!

If your fingerprints don't come up, they should be taken and you must prove you are American.

All military have been fingerprinted, and who else?

The data base is there, dear government, so share it. And cut federal funding to all states with jails and prisons that do not comply with verifying each person in jail or prison.

Get to working 24 hour a day, ICE

There should be, after all the government already HAS that info!

They sure don't have any trouble finding everything they want to know about me.

Months ago..................

In an attempt to reduce overcrowding in CA State Prisons, as mandated by the court, a bill was introduced, in the CA Assembly, to deport 17,000 illegal immigrant criminals. However the bill was killed in committee, by, you guessed it, the Hispanic Caucus that seems to control the CA Legislature.

So instead.............

22,000 inmates of CA State Prisons are in the process of being released early, without parole, or probation................CA's budget problems don't permit any additional parole, or probation, officers.

Lock your doors, and your windows.....................

These people should have some sort of GPS implanted in them so they can be alerted as soon as they cross back over. This may save us tax payers $ in the long run!

Originally Posted by Buzzm1

Months ago..................

In an attempt to reduce overcrowding in CA State Prisons, as mandated by the court, a bill was introduced, in the CA Assembly, to deport 17,000 illegal immigrant criminals. However the bill was killed in committee, by, you guessed it, the Hispanic Caucus that seems to control the CA Legislature.

So instead.............

22,000 inmates of CA State Prisons are in the process of being released early, without parole, or probation................CA's budget problems don't permit any additional parole, or probation, officers.

Lock your doors, and your windows.....................

Thanks, I was just about to post this.

Don't worry they are going to all be released early. I wish deported, not released.