Thread: Slow start for program to ID worst of jailed illegal aliens

denver and the west

Slow start for program to ID worst of jailed illegal immigrants

By Nancy Lofholm
The Denver Post
Posted: 03/18/2011 01:00:00 AM MDTUpdated: 03/18/2011 11:36:43 AM MDT

The controversial Secure Communities program that aims to help identify the worst offenders among illegal immigrants in jails has run into some early technical glitches in its pilot stage in Colorado.

Two of three Colorado sheriff's offices participating in the pilot program for the past month report "bugs" in the technical part of the new fingerprint identification system.

Under Secure Communities, local law enforcement agencies electronically turn over fingerprints of everyone in jail to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The fingerprints are then simultaneously checked against FBI criminal records and Immigration and Customs Enforcement immigration-status records.

Bill Ritter signed on to the program in January as one of his last actions as governor. He faced criticism from immigrant-rights groups that fear ICE will use the program to deport more illegal immigrants who have not broken laws or who have only misdemeanors on their records. ICE officials have said the focus of Secure Communities will be to deport only the worst offenders.

Statewide implementation of the system may not occur as quickly as some sheriffs hoped. Counties will be added to the program slowly while federal immigration authorities evaluate whether personnel and resources need to be shifted around to handle the worst offenders identified through the program.

The glitches have required pilot agencies for Secure Communities in Colorado to rely on their old criminal-identification systems or on alternative identification methods while the new program's problems are worked out, said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson.

"I'm a little bit frustrated with the glitches," Robinson said. "I expected this to be a matter of turn the switch and it's ready to go."

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said the "little bugs" to be worked out of the system include a sporadic lack of notification to the local agency when an illegal immigrant with a serious criminal record is identified.

Maketa has had an easier time dealing with the startup glitches because his is the only sheriff's office in the state to also rely on federally trained deputies who act as de facto immigration agents. Maketa sent 20 officers to month-long federal training on immigration law.

Maketa said the combination of Secure Communities checks and trained officers who wear special badges identifying them as 287(g) officers — the same badge ICE agents wear — has cut in half the time that his department must wait to have federal agents pick up serious offenders from his jail.

Capt. Frank Gale of the Denver County Jail said his office won't have any assessment of how the Secure Communities program is working until a quarterly report is compiled in several months.

He said working under the Secure Communities program has been "business for usual" for Denver County because that department has always fingerprinted every inmate and has electronically forwarded those fingerprints to state and federal agencies. The only difference now is that the fingerprints also go to immigration authorities.

CBI spokesman Lance Clem said his department is working on the technical problems with the notification system to the pilot counties. Connecting new counties will be as easy as activating their fingerprint- scanning programs, he said.

Carl Rusnok, communications director for ICE, said his agency won't move that quickly. ICE will be adding counties in batches so the program can be evaluated to make sure it is working well.

Implementation of Secure Communities began around the country in 2008. It has taken some states two years to get all counties on board with the program. Colorado counties have until 2013 to implement the program before it becomes mandatory.

Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_17640777

He said working under the Secure Communities program has been "business for usual" for Denver County because that department has always fingerprinted every inmate and has electronically forwarded those fingerprints to state and federal agencies. The only difference now is that the fingerprints also go to immigration authorities.

Some people will come up with any excuse to prevent dealing with illegal immigrants. The first thing I hear is, i.e., I do not try to enforce laws against illegal aliens because, I do not speak Spanish or undocumented aliens is a Federal matter. My suggestion is if you wear a badge it is your job to interact with illegal immigrants who commit criminals acts whether you speak Spanish or not. Seek another field of work if you cannot perform job duties in a legal manner.

Good work Denver County!

Im a bit suspicious when every type of enforcement is hindered by a "glitch"