Thread: Immigration screening launches today in HOUSTON city jails

Immigration screening launches today in city jails
By SUSAN CARROLL Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 16, 2009, 10:52PM


Houston Mayor Bill White will officially launch a fingerprint-based immigration screening program in the city's jails today, fulfilling his pledge to have the system up and running by the time he leaves office.

White, the outgoing mayor and Texas gubernatorial candidate, has faced harsh criticism for perceived flip-flopping on the issue of immigration enforcement in the jails. He previously requested to have the city participate in the controversial 287(g) program that would have trained officers to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents screen for illegal immigrants in the jails, but he backed away from that proposal after negotiations with the federal government broke down.

Instead, White opted for the Secure Communities program, which automatically checks the fingerprints of suspects booked into the city jails against a federal immigration database and notifies ICE when suspects have an immigration history.

White has said Secure Communities requires less manpower and money than 287(g), which has been criticized as being vulnerable to racial profiling.

Under 287(g), jailers are trained to assist ICE agents in identifying suspected illegal immigrants based not only on their fingerprint history, but also on how they respond to questioning about their status. Local authorities also are trained to file paperwork to detain suspected illegal immigrants through 287(g), but not through Secure Communities. Technical issues stalled for months the implementation of Secure Communities, city officials said, though White said he planned to have the system working by January.

Patrick Trahan, a spokesman for White, said White was not available for comment and could not provide more details Wednesday. White and Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt plan to hold a news conference this morning and will provide more details then, Trahan said.

Mayor-elect Annise Parker said on the campaign trail that she backs 287(g) and Secure Communities, which are both in place in Harris County's jails. Parker spokeswoman Janice Evans-Davis said Wednesday that Parker was not available for comment on Secure Communities but that her position had not changed on the immigration screening issue.

“The position is that if you get arrested and taken to jail, we're going to check your immigration status,â€

YES!!!!!!!!

All jailed suspects to get ICE check
By SUSAN CARROLL Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 17, 2009, 8:33PM

City and police officials announced a major technology upgrade Thursday in all of Houston's jails that will allow them to run national, fingerprint-based criminal and immigration background checks on all suspects booked into jail.

With the improved technology, the city is now able to participate in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program dubbed Secure Communities, which runs biometric checks for suspects' immigration history when they are booked into local jails.

The Houston Police Department routinely transfers suspects charged with more serious offenses — Class B misdemeanors and above — to the Harris County Jail, which has participated in Secure Communities for more than a year. That means those suspects were getting a more thorough national fingerprint-based background check at the county jail.

But until this week, suspects booked into the city jail on Class C misdemeanors, the most minor crimes, were not subject to the same scrutiny since the city lacked the technical capability to send fingerprints to ICE or run national fingerprint-based checks.

14,000 non-citizens

Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt estimated that HPD officers arrest and jail an average of 58,000 people annually on Class C misdemeanors. About 14,000 — or 24 percent — of those are non-citizens, Hurtt said.

Houston Mayor Bill White, who has faced criticism during much of his time as mayor over the issue of illegal immigration, announced the city's participation in Secure Communities during a Thursday morning press conference at a south Houston police precinct.

“Non-citizens, if they commit a serious crime against people here, ought to be deported after they serve their time,â€

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4790--0-0.html

Every state across the nation should have this upgraded system !
WAY TO GO HOUSTON !

[quote][b]He said he did not know how many of the 294 had “hitsâ€

Originally Posted by jamesw62

White, the outgoing mayor and Texas gubernatorial candidate, has faced harsh criticism for perceived flip-flopping on the issue of immigration enforcement in the jails.

Mayor-elect Annise Parker said on the campaign trail that she backs 287(g) and Secure Communities, which are both in place in Harris County's jails.

So two things are happening here, Bill White knows well if everyone in Texas finds out he was running a sanctuary city and denied 287g he would stand a snowball's chance in hell of ever getting a vote in his race for Governor (like he has a chance anyway ).

Second, the new Mayor woud have started 287g in less than a month anyway once she took ever and White was gone. So White had everything to gain. He sure didn't do it because he agrees with the proceedure.

Non-citizens, good term. If you have 115.000 Non-citizens, than
deport them all. A little late