3 California counties will check immigration status as inmates enter jail

LA Times ^

[Chet 99]

3 California counties will check immigration status as inmates enter jail

The effort is part of a national program to run the inmates' fingerprints through federal databases. Illegal immigrants may then be deported after being convicted and serving their sentences.

By Anna Gorman

6:01 PM PDT, May 13, 2009

Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego will become the first counties in California to begin checking the immigration status of all inmates booked into jail as part of a national effort to identify and deport more illegal immigrants with criminal records.

Law enforcement officials in the three counties will begin running inmates' fingerprints through federal databases this month to see if they have had any contact with the immigration system. Immigration officials will place holds on those believed to be in the country illegally. Once the inmates have finished serving their sentences, they will be transferred to immigration custody for possible deportation.

[Larry381]

I think I saw an estimate that up to a third of the people arrested in LA are illegals-anyone know is that’s accurate?

[Parley Baer]

I think I saw that to.

[Parley Baer]

By the way it must be getting pretty cold in hell.

[CriticalJ]

Nice to finally start something that should have been done all along. The part that is annoying is tax dollars will still be paid to house the illegals while they serve their sentence. Not much alternative though. If you ship the back beforehand, they’ll just sneak back across.

[BunnySlippers]

I would not be in the least bit surprised.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

Nice to finally start something that should have been done all along

It's a welcome action but common sense should not be so newsworthy.

[wac3rd]

This is because Obama will not use Federal money to help states and counties house illegal alien criminals...another attempt to undermine the US by the Kenyan.