Fingerprint check will ID criminal illegal immigrants

This editorial appears in the July 29, 2010, Yakima Herald-Republic.

A federal judge put on hold Wednesday several key aspects of the highly controversial Arizona law requiring law enforcement officials to check a person's legal immigration status. Despite this ruling, the fierce debate over how this nation handles -- or rather has failed to handle -- the issue of illegal immigration will not quickly subside.

In fact, we foresee more court challenges involving the Arizona law and more public demonstrations until Congress seizes control of the situation and passes comprehensive reform that controls the borders, provides adequate levels of temporary workers for agriculture and confronts how to deal with the more than 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S.

Yakima County has an opportunity to become more involved with the enforcement piece of the immigration puzzle when jail officials later this summer decide whether to join the federal Secure Communities program. Overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the program helps to flag illegal immigrants by taking the fingerprints of everyone who is booked into jail and running these prints through both the FBI and Department of Homeland Security records to see if the person is in the U.S. illegally and has a prior criminal record.

Right now, the county jail cooperates with ICE officials. But if the county goes one step further and signs up for the Secure Communities program, ICE will install the fingerprinting hardware to make the exchange of information seamless. This program would also mean everyone who is jailed in Yakima County would be subject to a fingerprint database search, not just those whom officials suspect may be here illegally.

We encourage Yakima County jail officials to sign on the dotted line for the Secure Communities initiative. More than 467 jurisdictions in 26 states have already done so since 2007.

Furthermore, it doesn't invite a draconian form of justice. It will help better define who is wanted by Homeland Security or who has run afoul of immigration laws. No matter which side of the immigration debate you may be on, providing sanctuary for illegal immigrants who have committed a crime is not acceptable. They need to be processed for deportation and removed from this country.

The Secure Communities program makes this possible. For that, we urge Yakima County jail officials to roll out the welcome mat and get the system installed.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are James E. Stickel, Bob Crider, Spencer Hatton and Karen Troianello.