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"Sheriff departments not activated by Secure Communities voluntary program, but have other partnerships or agreements with ICE to hold illegal detainees, are obligated by federal law to automatically release information to ICE of illegal aliens processed in county jails during custody."
By H. Nelson Goodson
August 18, 2010
Washington, D.C. - Republicans in Congress are considering a campaign to create legislation to make it mandatory for law enforcement facilities and county jails that process by fingerprinting suspects in custody to share information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for illegal alien identification. Today, sheriff departments who operate county jails have booked and processed suspects in custody for alleged domestic, minor or major offense. The suspects get fingerprinted, especially when they have yet to be convicted of a crime. Their fingerprints are entered and shared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for criminal history information against the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS).
A minority of Republicans in Congress would like to make sure the fingerprinting sharing becomes a national process and is extended to include identifying non-violent and non-criminal illegal aliens as well for removal. Republicans want the fingerprinting information shared nationally by both the FBI along with the biometrics-based immigration records in the Department of Homeland Security's Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).
Currently, this type of FBI and DHS fingerprinting sharing information is done voluntarily and with Secure Communities Program partnerships forged between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
Sheriff departments not activated by Secure Communities voluntary program, but have other partnerships or agreements with ICE to hold illegal detainees, are obligated by federal law to automatically release information to ICE of illegal aliens processed in county jails during custody.
The Secure Communities Program is being used in large metropolitan areas where a large concentration of Hispanics reside. In California, 35 counties have been activated including Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. In the Mid-West, Illinois has at least 5 counties activated, they are Dupage, Kane, Lake, Madison, St. Clair, Will and Winnebago counties. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, and Iowa are not activated, but other partnerships and agreements between county sheriff department's and ICE allows information of illegal aliens processed through custody made available to ICE for deportation hold and removal.
On Tuesday, ICE announced through a press release that it began using a new biometric information-sharing capability in five more Texas counties - Borden, Gaines, Mitchell, Scurry and Sterling counties - that helps federal immigration officials identify aliens, both lawfully and unlawfully present in the United States, who are booked into local law enforcement's custody for a crime. This capability is part of Secure Communities - ICE's comprehensive strategy to improve and modernize the identification and removal of criminal aliens from the United States.
Previously, fingerprint-based biometric records were taken of individuals charged with a crime and booked into custody and checked for criminal history information against the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Now, through enhanced information sharing between DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), fingerprint information submitted through the state to the FBI will be automatically checked against both the FBI criminal history records in IAFIS and the biometrics-based immigration records in DHS's Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).
If fingerprints match those of someone in DHS's biometric system, the new automated process notifies ICE. ICE evaluates each case to determine the individual's immigration status and takes appropriate enforcement action. This includes aliens who are in lawful status and those who are present without lawful authority. Once identified through fingerprint matching, ICE will respond with a priority placed on aliens convicted of the most serious offenses first-such as those with convictions for major drug offenses, murder, rape and kidnapping.
"The Secure Communities strategy provides ICE with an effective tool to dentify criminal aliens in local custody," said Secure Communities Executive Director David Venturella. "Enhancing public safety is at the core of ICE's mission. Our goal is to use biometric information sharing to remove criminal aliens, preventing them from being released back into the community, with little or no additional burden on our law enforcement partners."
With the expansion of the biometric information sharing capability to these 5 Texas counties, ICE is now using it in 193 Texas jurisdictions, Across the country, ICE is using this capability in 553 jurisdictions in 29 states. ICE plans to be able to respond to leads generated through the biometric information sharing capability nationwide by 2013.
Since ICE began using this enhanced information sharing capability in October 2008, immigration officers have removed from the United States more than 35,000 illegal aliens, including 10,800 criminal aliens convicted of Level 1 crimes such as murder, rape and kidnapping. Additionally, ICE has removed more than 27,000 criminal aliens convicted of Level 2 and 3 crimes including burglary and serious property crimes, which account for the majority of crimes committed by aliens. ICE does not regard aliens charged with, but not yet convicted of crimes, as "criminal aliens. Instead, a "criminal alien" is an alien convicted of a crime. In accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, ICE continues to take action on aliens subject to removal as resources permit.
The IDENT system is maintained by DHS's US-VISIT program and IAFIS is maintained by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS).
"US-VISIT is proud to support ICE, helping provide decision makers with comprehensive, reliable information when and where they need it," said US-VISIT Director Robert Mocny. "By enhancing the interoperability of DHS's and the FBI's biometric systems, we are able to give federal, state DHS's and the FBI's biometric systems, we are able to give federal, state and local decision makers information that helps them better protect our communities and our nation."
"Under this plan, ICE will be utilizing FBI system enhancements that allow improved information sharing at the state and local law enforcement level based on positive identification of incarcerated criminal aliens," said Daniel D. Roberts, assistant director of the FBI's CJIS Division. "Additionally, ICE and the FBI are working together to take advantage of the strong relationships already forged between the FBI and state and local law enforcement necessary to assist ICE in achieving ts goals."
To check if your jurisdiction is activated to share fingerprinting information with ICE (download PDF, includes 50 U.S. states) at link: http://bit.ly/c6CK91
Memorandum Of Agreement with States (PDF), link at: http://bit.ly/aqsdCD
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"Sheriff departments not activated by Secure Communities voluntary program, but have other partnerships or agreements with ICE to hold illegal detainees, are obligated by federal law to automatically release information to ICE of illegal aliens processed in county jails during custody."
By H. Nelson Goodson
August 18, 2010
Washington, D.C. - Republicans in Congress are considering a campaign to create legislation to make it mandatory for law enforcement facilities and county jails that process by fingerprinting suspects in custody to share information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for illegal alien identification. Today, sheriff departments who operate county jails have booked and processed suspects in custody for alleged domestic, minor or major offense. The suspects get fingerprinted, especially when they have yet to be convicted of a crime. Their fingerprints are entered and shared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for criminal history information against the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS).
A minority of Republicans in Congress would like to make sure the fingerprinting sharing becomes a national process and is extended to include identifying non-violent and non-criminal illegal aliens as well for removal. Republicans want the fingerprinting information shared nationally by both the FBI along with the biometrics-based immigration records in the Department of Homeland Security's Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).
Currently, this type of FBI and DHS fingerprinting sharing information is done voluntarily and with Secure Communities Program partnerships forged between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
Sheriff departments not activated by Secure Communities voluntary program, but have other partnerships or agreements with ICE to hold illegal detainees, are obligated by federal law to automatically release information to ICE of illegal aliens processed in county jails during custody.
The Secure Communities Program is being used in large metropolitan areas where a large concentration of Hispanics reside. In California, 35 counties have been activated including Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. In the Mid-West, Illinois has at least 5 counties activated, they are Dupage, Kane, Lake, Madison, St. Clair, Will and Winnebago counties. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, and Iowa are not activated, but other partnerships and agreements between county sheriff department's and ICE allows information of illegal aliens processed through custody made available to ICE for deportation hold and removal.
On Tuesday, ICE announced through a press release that it began using a new biometric information-sharing capability in five more Texas counties - Borden, Gaines, Mitchell, Scurry and Sterling counties - that helps federal immigration officials identify aliens, both lawfully and unlawfully present in the United States, who are booked into local law enforcement's custody for a crime. This capability is part of Secure Communities - ICE's comprehensive strategy to improve and modernize the identification and removal of criminal aliens from the United States.
Previously, fingerprint-based biometric records were taken of individuals charged with a crime and booked into custody and checked for criminal history information against the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Now, through enhanced information sharing between DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), fingerprint information submitted through the state to the FBI will be automatically checked against both the FBI criminal history records in IAFIS and the biometrics-based immigration records in DHS's Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).
If fingerprints match those of someone in DHS's biometric system, the new automated process notifies ICE. ICE evaluates each case to determine the individual's immigration status and takes appropriate enforcement action. This includes aliens who are in lawful status and those who are present without lawful authority. Once identified through fingerprint matching, ICE will respond with a priority placed on aliens convicted of the most serious offenses first-such as those with convictions for major drug offenses, murder, rape and kidnapping.
"The Secure Communities strategy provides ICE with an effective tool to dentify criminal aliens in local custody," said Secure Communities Executive Director David Venturella. "Enhancing public safety is at the core of ICE's mission. Our goal is to use biometric information sharing to remove criminal aliens, preventing them from being released back into the community, with little or no additional burden on our law enforcement partners."
With the expansion of the biometric information sharing capability to these 5 Texas counties, ICE is now using it in 193 Texas jurisdictions, Across the country, ICE is using this capability in 553 jurisdictions in 29 states. ICE plans to be able to respond to leads generated through the biometric information sharing capability nationwide by 2013.
Since ICE began using this enhanced information sharing capability in October 2008, immigration officers have removed from the United States more than 35,000 illegal aliens, including 10,800 criminal aliens convicted of Level 1 crimes such as murder, rape and kidnapping. Additionally, ICE has removed more than 27,000 criminal aliens convicted of Level 2 and 3 crimes including burglary and serious property crimes, which account for the majority of crimes committed by aliens. ICE does not regard aliens charged with, but not yet convicted of crimes, as "criminal aliens. Instead, a "criminal alien" is an alien convicted of a crime. In accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, ICE continues to take action on aliens subject to removal as resources permit.
The IDENT system is maintained by DHS's US-VISIT program and IAFIS is maintained by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS).
"US-VISIT is proud to support ICE, helping provide decision makers with comprehensive, reliable information when and where they need it," said US-VISIT Director Robert Mocny. "By enhancing the interoperability of DHS's and the FBI's biometric systems, we are able to give federal, state DHS's and the FBI's biometric systems, we are able to give federal, state and local decision makers information that helps them better protect our communities and our nation."
"Under this plan, ICE will be utilizing FBI system enhancements that allow improved information sharing at the state and local law enforcement level based on positive identification of incarcerated criminal aliens," said Daniel D. Roberts, assistant director of the FBI's CJIS Division. "Additionally, ICE and the FBI are working together to take advantage of the strong relationships already forged between the FBI and state and local law enforcement necessary to assist ICE in achieving ts goals."
To check if your jurisdiction is activated to share fingerprinting information with ICE (download PDF, includes 50 U.S. states) at link: http://bit.ly/c6CK91
Memorandum Of Agreement with States (PDF), link at: http://bit.ly/aqsdCD
Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile
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