New Program to Target Illegal Immigrants in Jails

By Maggie Ramsay

Published: April 1, 2008

WASHINGTON- Federal immigration officials want to give local law enforcement agencies more tools to identify illegal immigrant inmates incarcerated in local jails and prisons.

The Secure Communities program would give local agencies the ability to check fingerprints of inmates simultaneously on the federal citizenship and FBI crime databases, the first step toward deportation.

Three Virginia Republican Reps. Eric Cantor, Thelma Drake and Robert Wittman, wrote Julie Myers, assistant secretary of Immigration Customs Enforcement, Feb. 27 seeking the more streamlined citizenship-checking process.

“This comprehensive initiative aims to identify and remove all aliens convicted of a crime,“ Myers said in a statement announcing the plan Friday.

Currently, local officials have no direct access to the citizenship database. Congress budgeted $200 million this year to start the program, but immigration officials say that won’t be enough. They estimated it will cost at least $2 billion a year to identify and deport every criminal illegal immigrant in custody - based on the cost of increasing the use of federal detention facilities, staffing and transporting people back to their home countries.

The Virginia representatives applauded the coordinated approach to public safety and immigration control but were skeptical of the agency’s cost estimates.

“My issue is the price tag they are placing on it,“ Wittman said. “I certainly hope we can look for more efficient ways.“

Currently, the Virginia Department of Corrections submits names of foreign-born inmates to immigration officials, who then determine the immigration status of each inmate and whether the person should be placed in federal custody after being released by Virginia.

The new plan would give Virginia correctional officers the ability to check inmate citizenship status themselves.

“We certainly look forward to new initiatives that improve our relationship and in turn keep the community safe,“ said Larry Traylor, a spokesman for the state corrections department.

The plan takes a risk-based approach to deporting illegal immigrant inmates, first seeking those incarcerated for murder, rape and major drug crimes.

Immigration officials said they deported approximately 95,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records last year. They estimated 300,000 to 450,000 such immigrants are detained each year at federal, state and local prisons and jails.

Homeland Security officials said it would take three and a half years to remove the country’s most violent criminal illegal immigrants.

Rep. David Price, D-N.C., who chairs the committee that oversees the Homeland Security budget, and other members of Congress say there should be more benchmarks in the plan in the short term.

“We need some better details on how the administration is going to tackle the problem this year,“ Price spokesman Paul Cox said. “At least there should be some progress, and that’s what he’s going to be looking for.“

Immigration officials said lawmakers would continue to have a say in the agency’s plan.

“This plan is an initial strategy,“ said ICE spokesman Richard Rocha. “It will continue to evolve with input from Congress and other partnering agencies.“