Illegal Immigration - Essay Example

One of the convicts, Jose Luis Castaneda-Cardenas, a 23-year-old Mexican national, was identified as having an outstanding felony warrant for "Felony Murder" and "Misdemeanor Criminal Possession of a Weapon," in New York City. The New York City Police Department crosschecked the warrant and confirmed the extradition of Castaneda. The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), enables Border Patrol agents to search fingerprint databases simultaneously using the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) and the FBI fingerprint database.

This hi-tech technology provides rapid identification of individuals with outstanding criminal warrants by electronically comparing a live-scanned fingerprint with a nationwide database of biometrically indexed fingerprints.Fingerprinting was introduced in 2003 for people who were applying for British visas in a dozen countries associated with high numbers of suspect claims. Over the two-year trial in countries including Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, 1,400 people who had been previously either rejected as unfounded asylum claimants or who had a critical immigration history were caught trying to get new visas and were prevented from coming to the UK.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have integrated their databases of the fingerprints of millions of criminals and illegal immigrants, in an unprecedented interagency effort to catch more terrorists and solve more of the grueling crimes.Since the terrorist attack at the twin towers on September 11 law enforcement officials have worried that terrorists could escape detection because the federal government's numerous criminal and immigration databases weren't interconnected. But now with the advent of IDENT, which has the fingerprints of 1 million illegal immigrants is sure to fill the gap.

IDENT was launched on a trial basis in 1994 and put into wide use by 1998. In August 1998, INS IDENT mangers established standardized policies on the use of IDENT but for financial reasons decided not to put historical data in the database. The use of the IDENT system is critical because studies have shown that apprehended illegal aliens often attempt to fake their identity by providing a fictitious name or birth date.Although the technologies involved in the IDENT entry security program remained stable, in an effort to facilitate border security, BTS plans to establish higher sophisticated levels of coordination between formerly separate agencies and databases.

As of April 2003, the specific coordination and future and durability of the IDENT program was uncertain with regard to changing names, program administration, and policy changes.