It's good to see more being done about illegal immigration. I have a friend in Arizona who says it's a big problem. He learned spanish adn joined the border patrol just to try and help. He eventually quit because of the lack of resources and apparent lack of interest from the government. Hopefully more is done in the future to continue to deal with the problem of illegal immigration.
November 21, 2008 6:09 PM
[Photo] The Houston Chronicle recently published a three part series focusing on the burden illegal immigration is placing on the criminal justice system. Without question, the issue is even more urgent in metropolitan areas such as Houston, where proximity to our Southwest Border is directly related to the movement of illegal aliens into the United States.
While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not believe the writer of this series presented an accurate depiction of current facts, we could not agree more that identification and removal of criminal aliens is an urgent priority. The good news is that the men and women of ICE are working hard every day to implement new and innovative programs designed to eliminate the possibility of any criminal illegal alien being arrested and subsequently released back into our communities.
We recognized that better, faster local access to the millions of immigration records contained in the Department of Homeland Security’s databases is essential to local police departments and local sheriffs’ offices confronting criminal suspects whose backgrounds were unknown and who may be in the United States illegally. To meet this critical need, ICE implemented new technology that enables local officers to check both the criminal and immigration histories of all those processed at their jails. This integrated technology is the cornerstone of ICE’s Secure Communities program, and is currently deployed in seven jails, including those in Harris and Dallas counties.
With the ongoing deployment of Secure Communities, we fully expect to see a steady increase in the number of criminal aliens identified in local custody. Every increase moves us closer to our ultimate goal of removing all criminal aliens currently held in the prisons and jails throughout the country.
Without doubt, our joint efforts have yielded success. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, the ICE’s Houston Field Office identified and placed more than 13,300 illegal aliens, encountered in the custody of another law enforcement agency into removal proceedings, including more than 7,200 from the Harris County Jail. This is an increase of more than 3,300 over FY 2007.
Everyone in law enforcement today recognizes the power of partnerships. Both federal and state law enforcement officers all share a common mission to make the United States as safe and secure as possible and it just makes sense to work together.
John P. Torres Acting Assistant Secretary U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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Close this window Jump to comment formIt's good to see more being done about illegal immigration. I have a friend in Arizona who says it's a big problem. He learned spanish adn joined the border patrol just to try and help. He eventually quit because of the lack of resources and apparent lack of interest from the government. Hopefully more is done in the future to continue to deal with the problem of illegal immigration.
November 21, 2008 6:09 PM