A recent rape case involving an undocumented immigrant has raised awareness that a federal database tracking the fingerprints of deported persons is perhaps incomplete. Specifically, politicians and criminal defense experts note that the IDENT database -- part of the embattled Secure Communities program -- is often used to identify criminals and strengthen the government's cases, but that missing fingerprints of deported and/or undocumented immigrants has served to render it virtually useless in many cases.

Here, the suspect in a 2010 rape case was found to be an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who had previously been convicted of a crime in the United States and deported to his native country back in 2003.

After returning to the United States illegally, he spent time in a local jail in Virginia for public drunkenness. However, when jail officials ran his name and fingerprints in the IDENT database, nothing turned up -- not even his deportation.
The man was released from jail 12 hours later and went on to commit the alleged sexual assault the following month.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said jail deputies should have performed a manual search of records, including paper records, when the database turned up no results for the man. However, jail officials said they were unaware the database was incomplete.

In an attempt to rectify this problem, Congress recently allocated $5 million to scan all remaining fingerprint records into the IDENT database.

Prior to 2005, many fingerprint records for undocumented immigrants were recorded on paper, meaning they were never digitized and can only be accessed through manual searches, rather than through the database. This in turn makes it difficult for law enforcement personnel to determine whether a person in their custody is in the country illegally.

So far, ICE officials have not indicated how many fingerprint records would need to be scanned into the IDENT database and how exactly the money would be spent.

Stay tuned for further updates from our Los Angeles County immigration law blog ...

Whether you are arrested for a minor crime like driving without a license or something major like robbery or assault, an experienced lawyer can help ensure that your rights are protected as an immigrant or even if you are here without status.

This post was provided for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.

Source:

The Washington Post, "Fairfax County rape case leads to national database upgrade" Jan. 17, 2012