Thread: NCT : NEW JAIL SYSTEM ID'S MORE ILLEGAL ALIENS

New jail system IDs more illegal immigrants


By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer
North County Times
January 14, 2007

NORTH COUNTY ---- Booked into the county jail in Vista on a recent night, chances were slim that Mexican citizen Fermin Camacho Furtado would be savoring the taste of freedom anytime soon.

Within a few hours of being picked up that night on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had identified Furtado as an illegal immigrant who was deported from the United States in March 2001 and who had re-entered the country illegally the same month.

Now, just days before Christmas, Furtado was back in custody and sheepishly answering the questions posed to him by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Fidel Santillan. The 24-year-old native of Oaxaca admitted to Santillan that he was in the country illegally.


Once immigration officials had placed a hold on him, he could not be released until he was deported or an immigration judge saw him and decided otherwise, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack said recently.

The days may be ending when illegal immigrants are jailed in San Diego County for minor offenses, then processed and released before anyone realizes they are in the country illegally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say.

Federal officials have spent recent months gradually increasing the use of the computer system known as the Jail Information Management System, or JIMS, said Robert Culley, acting field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Detention and Removal Program.

Numbers on the rise

Because of the system, the number of illegal immigrants who are being identified in county jails is increasing with every passing month, immigration and customs records show. In July, 204 potentially deportable men and women were held under immigration restrictions in county jails; in August, 281; in September, 374; in October, 416; and in November, 845.

Culley said he believes the new system will allow federal agents to keep thousands more illegal immigrants off the streets each year ---- some of them dangerous criminals ---- by identifying and holding them in county jails for U.S. immigration officials to question. Many of those illegal immigrants will eventually be deported, immigration officials say.

"As we get better, we will identify more and more," Culley said.

Mack said she estimates that most of the men and women who are booked into county jails are arrested for relatively minor crimes that often put them back on the street in a matter of hours. Only by screening detainees around the clock as they enter the system can officials hope to prevent many illegal immigrants from slipping through the cracks, she added.

"In the past, they used to get on the street before we could identify them as illegal immigrants," Mack said.

Up until January, immigration officials only made sporadic visits to local jails to screen for those who might be subject to deportation, she said.

In that month, the federal agency began screening inmates for immigration status at the four county jails that are responsible for booking the approximately 100,000 men and women passing through the system each year. Anyone who is arrested in San Diego County is booked into the Vista Detention Facility; the Central Detention Facility in downtown San Diego; the South Bay Detention Facility in Chula Vista; or the Las Colinas Detention Facility in Santee.

Goal is to work 24/7

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials started the screenings with one eight-hour shift a day in January, and in late September increased to two full shifts a day. By mid-February officials expect to increase to three shifts covering 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Mack said.

And once the system is operating around the clock, she said, the agency expects it will be placing holds on as many as 1,200 men and women a month. That would be more than 14,000 immigration holds a year, roughly triple the 3,000 to 5,000 immigrants, legal and illegal, the county has released annually to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in recent years.

"It will mean people won't get back on the street to commit more crimes or add to the thousands of immigrant fugitives we are already looking for," Mack said. "Every single person that is booked into a county jail will meet face to face with an ICE agent to verify his immigration status."

The U.S. government created Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2003 in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The new agency absorbed much of the enforcement side of U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services and the U.S. Border Patrol, both of which had been responsible for fighting illegal immigration. The new agency is charged with identifying criminal activities and eliminating vulnerabilities that pose a threat to the nation's borders, as well as enforcing economic, transportation and infrastructure security.

In recent years, some illegal immigration opponents have criticized the agency for neglecting to reduce the number of illegal immigrants, as it focused on protecting the nation from terrorist threats.

Recently, however, the agency has begun to focus more attention on interior enforcement, workplace enforcement and identifying criminals at county jails, Mack said.

"Our priority is still to provide homeland security, but to do that, we have to make sure there are no vulnerabilities in the legal or illegal immigration system," she said.

Even before the new federal identification system was put in place at local jails, county Sheriff Department's data were showing a steady increase in the number of illegal immigrants incarcerated in county jails. And the numbers continue to increase, Sheriff's Department documents show.

Between Dec. 1, 2005, and Nov. 30, 2006, the county released to federal officials 5,041 prisoners on whom federal immigration officials had placed holds. That number represented 5.15 percent of the total number of men and women who were booked into county jails.

By comparison, during the same months in 2002 to 2003, the county released to federal immigration officials slightly fewer than 3,000 prisoners, or 3.25 percent of the total number of those booked in the same period.

You never know

Now, regardless of race or ethnicity, men and women who are booked into county jails are questioned by immigration officials who are permanently assigned to those jails and whose only job is to ferret out illegal immigrants. However, because there are only agents at the jails for two out of the three shifts each day, some illegal immigrants continue to slip through the cracks, Mack said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Supervisor Rick Abend said he has two reasons for wanting to screen every single inmate. For one, it avoids accusations that the agency is using racial profiling, he said. And, it is hard to tell who might be an illegal immigrant. Over the years, he has seen a number of inmates who surprised him, Abend said.

"It could be a South African who came here at the age of 1 and now is a Nazi low-rider," Abend said. "Our goal is to interview everybody."

The agents ask all detainees a series of questions about their citizenship, place of birth and other things about their background. If their answers sound suspicious or contradictory, agents will do more investigation and run names and fingerprints through a number of government databases.

Abend said that in order to help officials determine who may be lying to them and saying they were born in the U.S., agents ask questions such as, "How many stars are on the American flag, or, What grade did you get in recess ---- things you or I would know about."

One of the ways that some illegal immigrants try to fool officers is by saying they are from Mexico when in fact they are from other parts of Latin America. Mack said they often do that because if they are from Mexico, they will be released in that country, often just across the border. Citizens of other Latin American countries, however, are deported to their country of origin. For those who plan on trying to illegally re-enter the United States, it's much cheaper and easier from Mexico than Honduras, for example.

Abend said officers will ask those they believe are trying to pass themselves off as Mexicans questions that typically only a Mexican would know the answer to, for example: What is the Day of the Dead? or What plant does tequila comes from?

"Every (agent) has their tricks," Abend said.

Costs

County sheriff's officials say the 5,041 prisoners who ended up being released to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the last 12 months spent an average of 19.8 days in custody. The cost of housing each inmate was $90 a day. Based on those numbers, the county spent an estimated $9 million to house them.

The federal government has a program that reimburses local jurisdictions for part of the costs of housing illegal immigrant prisoners. However, the amount of the reimbursement is far below the actual costs ---- a point that has been a major bone of contention between local and federal officials.

For example, in the 2005 federal fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, San Diego County received $2.35 million in federal reimbursement to help defray the costs of housing illegal immigrants in jails, according to Cmdr. Ken Culver, who heads up detention programs for the Sheriff's Department. During roughly the same period, the county spent more than $7 million on jailed illegal immigrants and those subject to deportation, county records show.

The county has not yet received its partial payback from the federal government for fiscal year 2006-07, Culley added.

Some of that cost is from repeat business. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say that about 35 percent of those illegal immigrants who are caught in the United States and returned to their country end up returning illegally to the U.S. and being arrested again

Types of crime

Sheriff's officials said they do not systematically record data that looks at the types of crimes being committed by illegal immigrants. The most comprehensive review conducted to date on the makeup of populations in San Diego County jails and their crimes was conducted by sheriff's officials in 2002. That study, called "Bookings ---- A Study of Persons Detained in the San Diego County Jail System," looked at about 100,000 bookings a year between 1997 and 1999.

The study suggested that immigrants' place of birth had little to do with the type of crime being committed. About 28 percent of the crimes of all the crimes committed by those incarcerated in county jails were violent, regardless of whether they were born in San Diego County, elsewhere in the U.S. or in another country, the study showed.

A snapshot taken on Nov. 30 showed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had placed immigration holds on 60 detainees at the Vista jail.

And while the proportions can vary from one day to the next, the numbers showed that on that day, about 32 percent, or 19 of those 60 prisoners, were incarcerated on charges related to violence.

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426, or wbennett@nctimes.com.

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Federal officials have spent recent months gradually increasing the use of the computer system known as the Jail Information Management System, or JIMS, said Robert Culley, acting field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Detention and Removal Program.

Good name for the program.


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Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.

It is about time! wrote on January 14, 2007 12:07 AM:"What do you open borders people have to say about this? How could anyone be against deporting criminals? You guys will probably call someone racists, right? 32% of the illegals in the Vista jail were arrested for violent crimes. Let them live with you Enrique,Claudia,Tina, JoAnne etc. Once you fall victim to them, your approval of illegall immigration will change! They are not all good ,hardworking guys coming here to feed their families. They are first of all lawbreakers thus not to be trusted! Secondly they are not coming here so they can afford tortillas. They are coming to get wealthy and go back to their country to build a second story on their home or move up in status in their village. They are exploiting us just like some of our slime ball companies and citizens exploit them! Enough is enough! Send them home and employ those you come here to work with H2A and H2B visas. Mandatory sanctions on employers who don't hire legally. Our country is worth fighting for! Stand up US citizens for your country!"

A Felony wrote on January 14, 2007 12:16 AM:"It is a felony to illegally re-enter the US after having been deported. US Attorney Carol Lam is not interested in prosecuting such cases. Hopefully the rumors of her exit are true."

And.... wrote on January 14, 2007 2:10 AM:"This is just now taking place. Sounds like they are making a dent, until you put up the figures about how many are crossing daily, then it's laughable, but A for effort, it's more than what was being done in the past. "

Finally wrote on January 14, 2007 3:29 AM:"it seems that the illegal apologists don't have total control. Where do I sign up to help in this effort? How will this affect the career aspirations of Lori of Escondido and ahnold of Collifonia? I would hazard a guess that 'discrimination' isn't always a negative. But there must be a racist spin here somewhere. "

legalatina wrote on January 14, 2007 4:06 AM:"It's about time, this procedure should be followed at every single county prison all across the country. That, coupled with the fence and better border security will go a long way in getting a handle on the illegal alien anarcy occurring in this country. "

He is on a rubber band? wrote on January 14, 2007 5:56 AM:" A very enlightening report. It shows that some progress is being made. For shame on us for letting the situation get out of hand. It seems that we are still welcoming illegal aliens with open arms; e.g., if I were to be arrested for DUI what would happen to me? According to the above report, it seems that Mexican citizen Fermin Camacho Furtado will get away with that crime, be deported, and back in the USA in a very short time to drive on our highways and streets again regardless of the DUI arrest. Where is MADD?"

It is about time! wrote on January 14, 2007 7:19 AM:"I was helpful in getting an illegal alien from Guatamala arrested for stealing a young high school boys ID and running up a HUGE bill with the IRS of over $80,000. The JUDGE said he was deported and turned him loose. He was back at our company trying to get a job the next day. DEPORT them."

Overwhelmed wrote on January 14, 2007 8:02 AM:"Read the numbers again. Sounds like the San Diego County jail system could be an excellent filtering mechanism for the reducing the federal cost for catching illegals. After they take care of thier debt to San Diego, then the Feds immediately take possession of the lawbreakers. No more chasing up and down the Otay fenceline, just wait out front of the Vista detention center."

carlsbad guy wrote on January 14, 2007 8:54 AM:"Mayor: Can you AT LEAST issue a decree that all suspects are held UNTIL there is a shift where a worker can use the JIMS system? It makes NO SENSE to release someone because the 'guy that knows how to use the JIMS' isn't on his shift yet. That's madness. "

Robert24 wrote on January 14, 2007 9:52 AM:"Customs identified Furtado as an illegal immigrant who was deported from the United States in March of 2001 and re-entered the country illegally again the same month! If you took him out once and knew he came back the same month, why didn't you pick him up and remove him again?! If I did my job as poorly as this I would not have my job! I know that to some extent hands are tied, but it is time (past time!) to get this under control. Now I'll just sit back and wait for the bleeding hearts and ACLU supporters to start posting all the good these "hard working" thieves and law breakers contribute to society, and how it is illegal to ask or use a data base to check if you are legal or not. Let's keep up the hard work and send these law breakers back home, wherever that may be! "

Al wrote on January 14, 2007 10:30 AM:"Good job ICE! Get these ILEGAL's ouot of my couontry! They are leaches- crawling under the border by the shield of darkness, using tax-payer services and sending money home to 3rd world Mexico. Get them out of herew."

Greg in Oceanside wrote on January 14, 2007 11:04 AM:"The statistics don't lie. Hispanics from Mexico contribute significantly to the crime here in San Diego and in other major cities. It's about time the ILLEGAL ALIENS are immediately deported and sent back. This article clearly shows the lack of civic responsibility that immigrants show when living here. They have little regard for our laws begause they know we're soft and that if things get tough they can hide amongst other illegal aliens in our communities or run back to Mexico. INS and Customs need to play a major role in our criminal justice system if we're to stem the flow. We need to continue efforts to make it unattractive for Mexicans and other foreigners to come here illegally."

RJ wrote on January 14, 2007 12:18 PM:"The term "New jail system" makes it sound like JIMS is a new computer system. The JIMS system has been around for years. I think the "new system" Robert Culley is referring to is the fact that the Feds are finally sitting down at the keyboard of the JIMS system and finding out who is in jail. It's about time the Feds started cooperating with the county to identify the criminal illegals. I have served as a juror in 2 criminal cases, both of them involved criminal illegal aliens who had been previously deported. I believe all of these illegal criminals (petty or not) should be permanently denied legal status."

Greg in Oceanside wrote on January 14, 2007 1:05 PM:"Can someone explain to me how ILLEGAL ALIENS are able to legally register vehicles, or even get drivers licenses? Seems to me, ILLEGAL ALIENS are freely driving on our roads with registered vehicles. CA DMV needs to also be in on the act and prevent ILLEGAL ALIENS from having the ability to operate their vehicles here. Also, any before deportation, ILLEGAL ALIENS should have their vehicles confiscated and sold at auction."

RG wrote on January 14, 2007 1:15 PM:"If anyone still wonders who are doing the crimes, just google the San Diego Sheriff web site and click on the 10 most wanted fugitives. The names, pictures and crimes tell it all, and it takes only a moment of your time."

Reardon wrote on January 14, 2007 3:12 PM:"Returning after deportation is a federal felony! If 1/3 of those who are deported, return...and are not tried, convicted and jailed, there is no disincentive for others to continue the "rubber-band" effect. "

Paul wrote on January 14, 2007 4:20 PM:"To Rubber Band, my same sentiments. MADD and the rest of the feely good are ignoring these crimes. This guy will probably be back in a month. When will the politicians wake UP?"

Jeff wrote on January 14, 2007 4:33 PM:"If they think 14% of those arrested to be illegal immigrants, is 1 of 7 people in county also an illegal immigrant. Are they committing crimes equal to their proportion of the population? The federal government isn't even paying this one clearly identifiable cost, yet alone all the others. This is unacceptable. "

Greg in Oceanside wrote on January 14, 2007 5:35 PM:"RG, you make a great point. And if anyone really wants an eye-opening experience, go to the LAPD's Most Wanted link and take a look. Not surprisingly, almost all Most Wanted are Mexican or Hispanic (from other Latin American countries). And these people aren't on the site for jay-walking, most are on the site for murder and other serious offenses. Once they're caught, I'm not sure whether deporting them immediately, or having them serve their sentence THEN deporting them is the answer. I know jailing them costs the taxpayers money, but many of the ILLEGAL ALIENS seem to surface back on our streets only to commit more crimes even after they're deported. It's time we deal with these ILLEGAL ALIEN criminals NOW, and keep them from returning."

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Great! I hope all jails across America start screening all prisoners.