Thread: Illegal immigrants w/state ID's arrested at CIM

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Apr. 14:2005

Illegal immigrants with state IDs arrested at CIM

Employees of vending machine company had state-issued documentation

By Mason Stockstill, Staff Writer

CHINO - Three illegal immigrants with state-issued identification cards were arrested last week at the California Institution for Men, officials said Tuesday.
The three men, who worked for a company that services vending machines at the prison, were arrested after an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement noticed them during a routine visit to CIM, said ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley.

"One of our agents was there doing a (prison) check," Haley said. "They came to the agent's attention."

The agent checked the immigration status of the three workers and found they were all in the country illegally, she said. One was under a "final order," meaning he had been ordered deported but had never left the country.

Despite this, all three men were able to enter the prison with state-issued identification, said Sgt. Ari Sams, a spokesman for CIM.

As employees of a firm that was contracted by the prison to service vending machines around the facility, the three men were issued ID cards with their names and photographs to allow them prison access, Sams said.

Also, once a year, their names are entered into the California Law Enforcement Telecommunication System to make sure they do not have outstanding warrants or immigration holds.

"Upon their CLETS being free of any criminal activity, the state ID is renewed for them," Sams said.

In the case of the three vending machine servicemen, the background checks -- performed in January for two and February for the third -- turned up nothing, he said.

Haley didn't know when the deportation order had been issued, but if it was before the background check was performed, that wouldn't be the first time the database hasn't turned up what it was supposed to.

In December, an inmate who later escaped from San Quentin State Prison was placed in a minimum-security yard after a background check did not reveal he had an outstanding warrant on assault charges. The severity of those charges would have ordinarily landed him in a higher-security area.

Also, the Attorney General's Office has found that restraining orders are not being added to the database on a regular basis.

Sams was not aware of any previous instance where outside contract employees were found at the prison and were under deportation orders.

Outsiders enter the prison all the time, and in the case of the vending machine servicemen, their vehicle is searched before they leave.

"It's an everyday occurrence, but they don't just come in without some type of clearance," he said. "They're all cleared to come in."

Deportation proceedings will begin soon for the man facing the final order, Haley said. The other two will be expected to appear at a hearing.

Beyond Borders: A Special Report on Immigration

Mason Stockstill can be reached by e-mail mason.stockstill@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-4643.

Great controls they have.

Here in Ca. they have mastered the fake ID/DL.The advances in technology and the amount of people related to or sensitive to them that work in the dmv are many.They even have the holograms on them.