More calls for reform following Chronicle immigration report
By SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 5, 2008, 5:29P

After meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Houston this afternoon, local members of Congress said they were encouraged by ICE's progress in recent months to identify and detain illegal immigrants in local jails, but called for more reform by the agency.

Southeast Texas' Congressional delegation called the meeting with top ICE officials following a Houston Chronicle investigation last month that exposed a breakdown at the Harris County Jail that resulted in illegal immigrants with criminal records avoiding deportation.

The Chronicle investigation found that federal immigration officials allowed scores of violent criminals, including some ordered deported decades ago, to walk away from Harris County Jail despite the inmates' admission that they were in the country illegally.

The Chronicle examined arrest and immigration records for 3,500 inmates who told Harris County jailers that they were in the country illegally during a span of eight months, starting in June 2007.

In 177 cases reviewed by the newspaper, inmates who were released from jail after admitting to being in the country illegally later were charged with additional crimes. More than half of those charges were felonies, including aggravated sexual assault of a child and capital murder.

The report also found dozens of cases in Harris County involving suspected illegal immigrants who posted bail and absconded on criminal charges.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, said today that the delegation wants ICE to provide information by January on measures to ensure that illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes are not making bond. Brady added that they want to make sure illegal immigrants convicted of crimes — and are eligible for deportation — are removed from the country.

The delegation also wants a timeline from ICE officials on when an automated fingerprint check system that the agency implemented in Harris County Jail in October will be available in the rest of the state.

Congressmen Michael McCaul, Gene Green, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Congressman-elect Pete Olson attended the briefing at ICE headquarters in Houston. Congressmen John Culberson and Al Green sent staff members to the Houston meeting.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, received a briefing today in Washington D.C. from ICE officials.

"I am pleased that ICE and Harris County officials are moving quickly to address my concerns," Cornyn said in a statement this afternoon. "ICE informed me that they have developed an effective working relationship with Harris County and other Texas law enforcement entities to ensure all criminal aliens housed in the Harris County system are screened for immigration and criminal history. In addition, ICE assured me that they are working with state and local law enforcement to ensure that dangerous criminal aliens, repeat offenders, and felons are detained prior to removal from the United States to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens."

Cornyn added that the newspaper's investigation is only the latest example of why comprehensive immigration reform must be a top priority in 2009 for Congress and the incoming administration.

ICE officials have said the agency has made significant improvements in the last year including giving Harris County jailers access to a database that automatically checks suspects' immigration history. ICE spokesman Gregory Palmore has said that ICE identified more than 221,000 incarcerated criminals for potential deportation nationally last fiscal year, which ended in September.

During the same time, ICE removed 107,000 convicted criminals from the United States. The agency also trained nine Harris County jailers in August to help file paperwork to detain illegal immigrants.

susan.carroll@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6149764.html