Six Counties in Texas Join "Secure Communities" Program
On January 22, 2009, we posted a blog message discussing the Secure Communities program administered by U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) that facilitates the process for ICE to determine if an individual in local custody is a potentially deportable criminal alien. When an individual is detained, as part of the booking process their fingerprints are taken. With the Secure Communities program, the fingerprints are simultaneously checked for criminal and immigration records.
Now, six southwest Texas counties have joined the Secure Communities program to identify criminal aliens in the counties’ jail systems and process them for deportation. The six southwest Texas counties are Zavala County, Uvalde County, Maverick County, Val Verde County, Kinney County, and Real County. Additional information on the Secure Communities program is available at http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0902/090202sanantonio.htm.
