Kilmartin enters state into alien-ID program

PROVIDENCE – Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin last week signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Custom Enforcement to implement the Secure Communities program, which helps identify criminal illegal aliens.
According to a news release, the program “modernizes the identification and removal of criminal aliens from the United States.”
When an individual is currently arrested for committing a crime, fingerprints of the arrested individual are run through the state and the FBI database, known as the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. With the new program, fingerprints of those arrested and booked will also be checked against a combined a DHS/FBI database.
If a fingerprint match is recorded, ICE will determine if immigration enforcement action is required, considering the immigration status of the alien, the severity of the crime and the alien’s criminal history.
The Department of Homeland Security intends to employ Secure Communities in all jurisdictions across the nation by 2013, according to a release. &#8226