Authorities hail system that helped flag 1,000 jailed immigrants
EDINBURG — Federal authorities have identified more than 1,000 immigrants with criminal records in the Hidalgo and Starr county jails during the first five months of a program that aims to deport those who have committed serious crimes.
Among the illegal migrants identified through the program — known as Secure Communities — 210 had been charged with or convicted of felony offenses such as murder, kidnapping or rape, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said. Nearly 30 have already been deported after serving their sentences.
“It’s allowing ICE to take immediate action to make sure that we’re not releasing these dangerous criminals back into the community,” said Michael Pitts, director for detention and removal for the agency’s San Antonio field office. “It’s now virtually impossible for the aliens to falsify their identities by forging documents.”
The Secure Communities initiative — which went live in the Hidalgo and Starr county jails in June — matches fingerprints taken during the normal booking process with records stored in a slew of national databases such as those run by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Those who have previous criminal histories or recorded civil immigration violations are flagged and sent to federal and local authorities for potential deportation. Immigrants charged with the most violent crimes move to the front of the line for eventual removal from the country.
Since its inception, using biometric data has proven more successful at identifying criminal immigrants than the old method, which consisted of face-to-face interviews, relied heavily on physical documents and was subject to the cooperation of the suspects, Starr County Sheriff’s Capt. Romeo Ramirez Jr. said.
“It’s sometimes like looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said. “But the faster we can identify them, the quicker we can place a hold on them before they bond out of jail.”
South Texas counties currently running the program have identified 3,500 criminal illegal immigrants — more than 3 percent of the nationwide total of 111,000 that ICE officials reported during a news conference Thursday in Washington, D.C.
Since taking office, President Barack Obama’s administration has vowed to devote more resources to immigration enforcement against those who commit crimes after entering the country illegally than against those migrants who come solely to look for work.
ICE identified 221,000 deportable inmates nationwide during the 2008 fiscal year, but officials estimate that number could reach 1.4 million once Secure Communities is launched in every local lockup nationwide — a goal currently set for 2012.
Ten border counties in Texas have already launched the program in their jails, and officials hope to have the initiative up and running in Cameron County soon.
Those jails where the program is already at work have already found ways to improve upon the system. While ICE agents have typically flagged only the most serious offenders for possible deportation, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño has set up an office in his detention facility for the U.S. Border Patrol to keep tabs on those detained on less serious, quality-of-life charges such as burglary or robbery.
He has already seen results. While criminal illegal immigrants have traditionally made up about 29 percent of the inmate population at the Hidalgo County Jail, that level has dropped to about 12 percent in the past several months.
“I’d like to think at least one of the reasons it’s gone down is Secure Communities and this second program I have with Border Patrol,” the sheriff said. “I’m trying as hard as I can to allow no criminal alien to fall between the cracks.”
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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.
