November 1, 2010

ICE Implements Enhanced Information Sharing System in AZ, WV

On October 26, 2010, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) implemented an advanced federal information sharing system in all counties throughout Arizona and West Virginia that expands its capability to enforce the immigration laws against foreign nationals who are booked into local police custody for criminal reasons. This will be done through the use of biometrics.

The system expands upon the current platform of checking the individual in custody’s biometrics against Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records via the Department of Justice’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), maintained by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS). Using the advanced system, biometrics are also checked against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT), maintained by DHS’s US-VISIT program. ICE will be notified if the individual’s biometrics match those in the DHS database, after which it can both determine the individual’s immigration status and investigate whether immigration enforcement action is needed.

According to ICE, this enhanced information sharing capability has now been implemented in 746 jurisdictions and 34 states, and has thus far resulted in the removal from the United States of over 46,800 foreign nationals with criminal convictions. For more information, visit the ICE website.