Thread: Deporting foreign criminals

Published: Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010 / Updated: Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010 10:26 PM

Deporting foreign criminals

New technology allows sheriff's office to pinpoint illegal aliens in custody.
Even those who oppose the more extreme anti-immigrant measures being proposed by some are likely to find it hard to argue that illegal immigrants in this country who land in jail ought to be deported.

That is what the York County Sheriff's Office is doing, and the system appears to be extremely effective. Since 2007, the sheriff's office has deported 1,037 illegal aliens who were suspected of committing a crime in the county.

Those suspects have been sent to 22 different nations, including Russia, Greece, Jamaica, Mexico and Guatemala, according to Sheriff Bruce Bryant.

Everyone brought to the Moss Justice Center in York is asked three questions before being fingerprinted: What country are you a citizen of? Where were you born? Are you in the United States legally?

When the program was initiated in 2007, the status of those arrested was checked through the Department of Justice's database in partnership with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Beginning this month, however, fingerprint biometric records also are checked against the more comprehensive records of the Department of Homeland Security, including information submitted by the FBI.

This program -- called 287-G -- checks both the Homeland Security database and the Department of Justice's records, offering photos and records of alias names for suspects. Once it is determined that a suspect is here illegally, the deportation process begins.

However, those flagged for deportation first must be tried and, if convicted, serve time in the United States before being sent to their home countries.

Bryant assures that no racial profiling occurs in connection with this program. Everyone, whatever his or her ethnic background might be, is screened, and those singled out by the process have diverse ethnic roots.

York County is one of seven in the state and 685 jurisdictions nationwide screening prisoners, although not all employ 287-G. It is reassuring to know that York County is using the most sophisticated screening process available.

Ultimately, the United States must embrace immigration reform that takes a variety of approaches both to securing our borders and dealing with undocumented immigrants already in this country. But whatever reforms are adopted, there is no place in the U.S. for those who enter the country illegally and become involved in illegal activities.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/10/21/ ... z1379amvC0

there is no place in the U.S. for those who enter the country illegally.

We'll just leave it like this.