Plan targets criminal aliens

Los Angeles Daily News ^ | November 16, 2001 | Troy Anderson

[sarcasm]

Federal and Los Angeles County officials launched a program Thursday that uses state-of-the-art fingerprint and computer technologies to help them find and expel illegal criminal aliens who have re-entered the United States after being deported.

"We have a very serious problem in Los Angeles County, with a quarter of the inmates in county jails here illegally after having committed crimes," Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said at a news conference at Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

"After they are released, they are sent back to their home countries and return here to commit more crimes. They fall through the cracks and many of them are re-arrested five, six and even seven times."

By using computerized fingerprinting of all illegal criminal aliens, officials expect the High Intensity-Criminal Alien Apprehension and Prosecution Program, or HI-CAAP, to expand the statewide database on deported criminal aliens.

The program -- funded by a $2.3 million federal grant -- will give local law enforcement officers the ability to positively identify criminal aliens at the time of arrest and refer them to a federal duty officer to decide whether to prosecute or deport them.

In the past, local law enforcement agencies have had difficulty quickly identifying illegal criminal aliens at the time of arrest. Due to communication barriers and incompatible computer systems, local and federal officials were unable to effectively target habitual criminal aliens for federal felony prosecutions for illegal re-entry after deportation.

Recent studies show the percentage of illegal aliens in Los Angeles County jails has more than doubled from 11 percent in 1990 to 25 percent this year, and the annual cost to incarcerate them has grown from $75 million in 1990 to $150 million in 2000.

At any time, more than 4,000 county jail inmates are illegal criminal aliens, Sheriff Lee Baca said, noting that 60-70 percent of those inmates have been re-arrested in the last four to five years.

Of the county's 150,000 gang members, 27,000 are illegal criminal aliens, officials estimate.

In the last four months, U.S. Attorney John Gordon said his office has tripled the number of cases filed against criminal aliens and he expects that number to grow. A sheriff's report last year noted federal prosecutors in Los Angeles had only prosecuted 350 such cases in 1998 compared with 2,400 in San Diego and 3,000 in Phoenix.

"The long arm of the law just got a little bit longer," U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service District Director Tom Schiltgen said.

[sarcasm]

Recent studies show the percentage of illegal aliens in Los Angeles County jails has more than doubled from 11 percent in 1990 to 25 percent this year, and the annual cost to incarcerate them has grown from $75 million in 1990 to $150 million in 2000.

Diversity is our strength.

[Winged Elf]

What's the point?

All they're doing is wasting money to identify them, after they commit crimes, faster, so they can shorten the time it takes to repeat the cycle. Deport, come back, commit a crime, identify, deport.

Lather, rinse, and repeat, because the bottle doesn't say when to stop!

[Nancie]

The Twin Towers Correctional Facility? Is that irony or what?

[IRtorqued]

illegal criminal aliens

How redundant can they get? Nothing will change until vicente fox is removed from the D.C. department of immigrations.

[TomGuy]

The Afghan situation seems to be coming to a rapid conclusion. I hope this gives Mr. Rumsfeld a break in his regular duties, so he can go over to the INS to do some housecleaning and butt-kicking. INS needs to get with the program!

[Feckless]

"a quarter of the inmates in county jails here illegally after having committed crimes"

!DUH! Being here illegally IS a crime!

[Z-28]

Mexicans get 30 entry attempts before prosecution.

[Z-28]

Evading the U.S. Selective Service System: All male U.S. citizens and all male non-citizens including all illegal alien males in the U.S. who are 18 through 25 must register with the Selective Service Administration (Draft Board) upon entry into the United States. If you do not register, you can be prosecuted for a felony and fined up to $250,000 and/or be put in jail for up to five years and/or deported. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (I&NS) makes registration with the Selective Service a condition for U.S. citizenship if you first arrived in the U.S. before your 26th birthday. See the Selective Service System chart of all male persons who must register.

[dennisw]

Great stuff you are posting. I better go get my immigration bump list from my other computer!

[Z-28]

30 minutes or less and this thread will be history.

Somebody we all know must have a cheap gardener.

[FITZ]

The only kind of amnesty program I could see is one that would allow only those illegals who have never committed any kind of crime, never used any kind of social programs, paid for their own health care and hospitalizations, and who filed an income tax return, etc to stay but send back all the others.

[sarcasm]

The only kind of amnesty program I could see is one that would allow only those illegals who have never committed any kind of crime, never used any kind of social programs, paid for their own health care and hospitalizations, and who filed an income tax return, etc to stay but send back all the others.

This might apply to perhaps a few hundred.

[Brownie74]

"After they are released, they are sent back to their home countries and return here to commit more crimes.

What are they doing here in the first place? Why do we even bother to enact laws and quotas if the government isn't going to enfore them?

Of the county's 150,000 gang members, 27,000 are illegal criminal aliens, officials estimate.

This is absolutely pathetic. I would be ashamed to admit that this problem even exist.

Can you hear me Washington? It's time to change the oil.

[cake_crumb]

"They fall through the cracks and many of them are re-arrested five, six and even seven times."

In California. Is there some special reason that these illegal aliens, who are supposedly protected by the Constitution even though they are not citizens, APPEAR TO BE EXEMPT FROM CA'S THREE STRIKE LAW???

Seems to be a tad bit inconsistant.

[FITZ]

I know.

[Dustbunny]

Locking the barn door after the horse ran away.

Guess better late than never.

[doug from upland]

They can't do this. They are going to be removing an awful lot of RAT voters from California.

[dennisw]

bttttttttttttt

[Dustbunny]

I like the idea of letting the illegals know we are coming to get them. Maybe they will beat feet out of here.