Thread: Computer technology fingers illegal aliens

Computer technology fingers illegal aliens
Bucks, Montgomery already scan prints to determine residency.
By Robert H. Orenstein | Of The Morning Call
March 10, 2009
After being arrested in Bucks County, suspects place their hands on an imaging screen that scans their fingerprints into a computer linked to a federal database.

Within minutes, prison officials can learn the person's criminal record -- whether he is wanted for other crimes and whether he is in the country illegally.

That's the latest weapon the federal government uses to track people who are illegal immigrants.

The system has been in use in Bucks and Montgomery counties -- the only two in Pennsylvania so far -- for a couple of months. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to extend that to more than 6,000 local police booking centers and jails nationwide, including the Lehigh Valley, in about 31/2 years, Thomas Decker, director of the ICE Field Office in Philadelphia, said Monday.



ICE and Bucks officials demonstrated the system at the Bucks Men's Community Corrections Center in Doylestown Township.

Criminals who are in the country illegally will be turned over to ICE for deportation proceedings only after completing their sentence in a county jail.

Bucks District Attorney Michelle Henry said people simply can't be turned over to ICE before completing prison terms.

''It's important to serve whatever sentence that is,'' she said.

''Ultimately, this program is going to make Bucks a safer place,'' Henry said.

Frederick Harran, Bensalem Township's director of public safety, issued a warning: ''If you're interested in illegal activities, don't do it in Bucks County or you're going to get a ticket out of here.'' Township police have arrested about a dozen people who, with the help of ICE, have been identified as being in the country illegally.

Bucks was able to tap into the ICE system because its computer fingerprinting system was in place and needed only upgrades -- $30,000-$40,000 worth -- to complete the connection, said county Corrections Director Harris Gubernick.

Montgomery County was in a similar situation, ICE spokesman Mark Medvesky said.

The high-tech identification system works with another, more personal effort by ICE, where its agents visit local prisons to help identify illegal immigrants.

Since Bucks connected to the database, which contains 90 million fingerprints, at least five people have been given to ICE for deportation proceedings, Gubernick said.

Medvesky said the Philadelphia ICE office has deported a growing number of undocumented immigrants over the last two years -- 3,837 in fiscal year 2007, 5,051 in fiscal year 2008 and 1,101 in the first three months of the present fiscal year. The Philadelphia office covers Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia.
robert.orenstein@mcall.com

610-820-6133

Cool!!!

GO ICE!

Sounds promising.
Hope it doesn't get shot down by the numerous illegal supporters.

Sounds promising.
Hope it doesn't get shot down by the numerous illegal supporters.

It works, so of course they are going to fight it. The idea we CAN'T deal with this, or that it's so big it's better to just let it go instead of deal with it is crazy. All we are doing is fighting for the ability to use all the means available to fix the problem. Powers that be LET this happen.

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http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-149056-orenstein.html