Duval jail partnership will speed up deporting felons illegally in country
Posted: Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 6:28 pm

Illegal aliens with past criminal records won’t be able to skirt past the Duval County jail any longer.

Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford introduced a partnership during a news conference this afternoon between the jail and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement designed to identify illegal aliens with felony records in other countries.

The partnership, which Rutherford said is only enacted in the jail post-arrest on felony charges, gives detention officers access to federal databases on illegal-alien felons and the authority to deport them without waiting for immigration agents.

Rutherford said the initiative cuts out the need for immigration officials to check the records of inmates and determine which felons are in the country illegally. He said the former process sometimes took so long that these felons served their time and were released back into the community before Immigration and Customs was able to determine their illegal status.

A team of 10 trained officers for the computer systems will be stationed in the jail once the equipment is installed, said Jail Chief Tara Wildes.

Matt Coleman


http://news.jacksonville.com/justin/200 ... n-country/