Published on: Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Feds offering new immigration check program


Nine Florida counties have been added to the list of law enforcement agencies using the federal government's new Secure Communities immigration-check program.

Secure Communities, created in cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, is a biometrics-based system that allows local police departments to check the immigration history of offenders.

Charlotte County Sheriff's Office officials said they use the system occasionally. Nearby Collier County, meanwhile, is "using it to its full potential," according to Collier County Sheriff's Office Lt. Keith Harmon.

"We have people specially trained in this," he said, "who went through a lot of training."

While every officer is familiar with the system, several officers attended a special four-week course given by both ICE and DHS to become experts in its use. he said.

Here's how the system works:

* In accordance with normal booking processes, every offender's fingerprints are taken after an arrest.

* Through Secure Communities, the prints are sent through the Department of Homeland Security's immigration databases to determine the citizenship status of the offender.

* If the prints match any of those in the DHS's biometric system, the police are automatically notified.

* The case then becomes a joint one in which officers from both the local police agency and ICE cooperate. An ICE officer is usually sent out to the precinct to review the case.

"This is critical to public safety," said Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The system has already helped get some dangerous illegal aliens off the streets and eventually out of the country, she said.

For example, a Bahamian native was arrested in Miami for a traffic violation. On booking him, Miami police scanned his fingerprints through the standard Department of Justice system, Navas said.

Nothing turned up.

However, because Miami-Dade County is one of the counties to recently start using the new Secure Communities system, a scan of his fingerprints was also sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

That query turned up the fact that the offender was not only a previous felon, with 31 arrests and 11 convictions including battery, drug offenses and burglary, but he was in the U.S. illegally from the Bahamas.

To top things off, he was found to be a gang member, Navas said.

He was sent to prison, with deportation waiting for him after his sentence, she said.

"The criminal case comes first," Navas explained.

In other words, prison terms or other sentences are carried out before deportation, she said.

While Secure Communities helps find out the true criminal and immigration history of some dangerous criminals, it has some smaller and just as practical uses.

For example: "If we've got a fake name," said Lt. Harmon, "it helps determine the identity of the people we have in custody."

With normal booking, an illegal immigrant with no ID and a fake name might slip through the cracks. In addition, police often had to cut through miles of red tape before sentencing could be dealt with, he said.

With Secure Communities, determining identification and citizenship is automatic and simple.

"We have the equipment and people to do that," said Harmon.

Since it was issued to Florida law enforcement agencies, 8,407 matches have come through, including 787 Level 1 offenders, or aggravated felons.


Nick Milano

Sun Correspondent


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