Houston: Harris jailers can access huge immigration database

Harris jailers can access huge immigration database
By SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

The Harris County Sheriff's Office today became the first local law enforcement agency in the nation to test an automated fingerprint check system that gives jailers full access to suspects' immigration history, officials said.

The new program provides a seamless and simultaneous check of immigration and criminal history by linking the FBI's database with the Department of Homeland Security's database, known as IDENT (the Automated Biometric Identification System), officials said Monday.

Gregory Palmore, a spokesman with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston, said the Sheriff's Office was selected to lead the pilot program in part because Houston has "one of the largest criminal alien populations in the United States."

In February 2007, Harris County was selected as one of a handful of law enforcement agencies to test a more limited version of the integrated databases. That earlier version of the database contained records from ICE and information on people rejected for visas by the Department of State based on specific criteria.


Access to millions
Under the new system, Harris County jailers will have full access to millions of immigration records in the IDENT database, Palmore said. When a suspect is booked into the Harris County Jail, his fingerprints will be checked against the FBI system and the immigration database simultaneously.

Palmore said the Sheriff's Office will not require additional training to run the checks through IDENT since the process is automated. Any "hits" for non-citizens will be referred to ICE's Law Enforcement Support Center for more investigation, officials said.

Palmore said improving the link between the two databases is part of ICE's Secure Communities program, which aims to identify and remove immigrants convicted of crimes. ICE estimates that it screens foreign-born inmates in only about 10 percent of the nation's estimated 3,100 jails. ICE estimated that to identify and remove the most serious criminals — those convicted of crimes including murder, rape and drug trafficking — would take at least 3 1/2 years and cost up to $1 billion.

In August, nine Harris County jailers participated in ICE's 287 (g) program, which trains local law enforcement to help identify illegal immigrants. Through that program, the trained jailers already had the ability to check the DHS databases, but had to run fingerprints separately through the FBI and immigration systems.

Now, instead of checking only people referred to jailers with specialized immigration training or ICE agents, all inmates will be run against the database, officials said.

"We have a full-court press on to make sure these violent criminal aliens don't step back into the community because we miss them in our identification process," said David Venturella, the executive director of ICE's Secure Communities program.

In a statement, Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas called illegal immigration "a complex issue," adding that "the best solutions to complex issues are found when law enforcement agencies at all levels work together, in cooperation with the community."

susan.carroll@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6080486.html
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Jails to fingerprint, oust illegals
Local law enforcement links to federal databases to deport criminal aliens

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Posted: October 28, 2008
9:50 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

A new automated fingerprint-check system designed to find illegal alien criminals was tested for the first time by a local law enforcement agency today.

The system provides jailers with full access to suspects' immigration and criminal histories, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The sheriff's office in Harris County, Texas, is the first to test the program that links both the FBI database and the Department of Homeland Security database. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Gregory Palmore said the department was chosen because Houston has "one of the largest criminal alien populations in the United States."

The Center for Immigration Studies estimates more than 1.7 million illegal aliens live in Texas. The state has a reputation for welcoming illegals, and it has not passed a law targeting employers who hire them.

While the uncompensated cost of incarcerating illegal aliens in Texas' state and county prisons amounts to about $150 million a year, it does not include local jail detention costs or related law enforcement and judicial expenditures or the monetary costs of crimes that led to their incarceration.

As WND reported earlier, illegal aliens are fleeing strict immigration enforcement policies in several states and settling in Texas. The state's budget is suffering and violent crime, soaring.

WND researched FBI crime statistics from years 2006 to 2007 for 29 of Texas' largest cities with populations of more than 100,000. The Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report reveals Houston, one of the state's well-known sanctuary cities with "don't-ask-don't-tell" policies, experienced an additional 314 violent crimes in 2007 compared with 2006 figures.

Now Harris County jails have full access to databases, and each inmate's fingerprints will be checked against the federal records. Anyone who is suspected of being an illegal alien will be referred to ICE for further investigation and possible deportation.

The fingerprint check system is part of ICE's Secure Communities program, and initiative that seeks to remove illegal aliens who have been convicted of crimes. According to the Chronicle, ICE said it would be possible to deport most alien murderers, rapists and drug traffickers in the next 3 ½ years, though it would cost an estimated $1 billion.

Executive Director David Venturella of the ICE program said the agency intends to keep illegal alien criminals off the streets.

"We have a full-court press on to make sure these violent criminal aliens don't step back into the community because we miss them in our identification process."


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