DENVER (AP) — A rapidly expanding federal program that identifies illegal immigrants when they’re arrested and fingerprinted is now operational in Denver and in El Paso and Arapahoe counties.
Colorado Department of Public Safety spokesman Lance Clem says Secure Communities was launched Tuesday in the three jurisdictions. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates the program, said last week Secure Communities is active in more than 1,000 jurisdictions in 38 states.
Secure Communities was launched in 2007. ICE says it hopes to have it in every jail in the country by 2013.
The program checks arrestee’s fingerprints against federal databases to determine the person’s legal status and arrest record.
Critics argue it creates an incentive for racial profiling. Denver Mayor Bill Vidal calls it “worrisome” and says it should be monitored closely.
Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said he has been working to implement the program in Arapahoe County for “a long time.”
“I am confident that it will be a significant tool for us to use to remove criminal aliens from the streets and help keep our communities safe,” Robinson said in a statement ICE announcing the program.
Click below for the releases from ICE and the Arapahoe County sheriff's office.
The ICE release:
Arapahoe, Denver and El Paso counties are the first in Colorado
DENVER — On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began using a federal information-sharing capability in Arapahoe, Denver and El Paso counties that helps federal immigration officials use biometrics to 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 aliens convicted of a crime from the United States
Previously, biometrics — fingerprints — taken of individuals charged with a crime and booked into custody were 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), biometrics 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’ 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 crimes 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 identify criminal aliens in local custody,” said Secure Communities Assistant 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 Arapahoe, Denver and El Paso
“We have advocated for the implementation of Secure Communities in Colorado
Since ICE began using this enhanced information- sharing capability in October 2008, immigration officers have removed from the United States
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 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 its goals.”
For more information about how ICE is using biometrics to identify aliens convicted of a crime, visit www.ice.gov/secure_communities.
# ICE #
And the Arapahoe County release:
Arapahoe County Sheriff Implements Immigration Identification Program
On Tuesday, February 15, 2011, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office implemented the Secured
Communities Program in the Arapahoe County Detention Facility. Arapahoe County is one of three
counties in the state that will pilot this initiative in their jails along with the Department of Corrections
Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center. As a pilot site, we will work through the systems and
procedures of the Secured Communities Program to ensure a smooth transition to the Program for
the other sheriff’s offices across the state.
The Secured Communities initiative is operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The program allows the Arapahoe County
Detention Facility to electronically submit biometric data (fingerprints) of every person booked into
the facility to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation who will forward the information on to six
different Federal data bases. Within two hours from the electronic submission, the Arapahoe
County Sheriff’s Office will receive information regarding an inmate’s immigration status and a
determination of ICE placing a deportation detainer on the arrestee who is an illegal alien. Sheriff
Robinson stated “this is a very important program that will have a positive impact upon public
safety, will enhance our ability to identify criminal aliens, and will focus upon the timely deportation
of those who continue to victimize our community.”
Both the County Sheriffs of Colorado and the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police support our
state’s participation in this Program. The Department of Homeland Security anticipates
implementation of the Secured Communities Program will be mandatory nationwide in 2013.
For additional information, please contact Sheriff Grayson Robinson at 720-874-4165.
END
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