Agencies compare prints to ID illegals

BOISE – Southwestern Idaho law enforcement agencies will compare fingerprints of suspected criminals with records kept by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to help identify people who are in the country illegally.

Ada and Canyon counties will be the first in Idaho to use the so-called Secure Communities Program.

It uses information-sharing technology to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement identify illegal immigrants when they are fingerprinted and booked on criminal charges.

The information will be shared on immigrants who are in the United States both legally and illegally.

“We want to make sure that our local law enforcement partners know as much as possible about the people in their custody,” said Steven Branch, field office director for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Salt Lake City Office of Detention and Removal, which includes Idaho.

“I take seriously our responsibility to protect the public by identifying criminals and preventing them from committing additional crimes,” Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney said. “Secure Communities is a valuable tool that will help us identify criminal aliens in our jail, return them to their country of origin and prevent them from committing further crimes in our community.”

Canyon County Sheriff Chris Smith said the system will help manage the number of inmates being held at the jail.