California Immigration Lawyer Blog

Today Immigration Customs and Enforcement ("ICE") announced an arrangement with Imperial County Sheriff's Department in which individuals during the booking process will have their biometric data checked with Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") data and FBI data to determine whether or not they are in the United States illegally. When a person's fingerprints match those of someone in DHS' biometric data system, ICE is automatically notified. ICE will then take steps to determine the individual's immigration status and then take appropriate action after the offender completes his or her prison term.

ICE already has agreements with Los Angeles County and San Diego County. Nationwide coverage is expected by 2013.

Posted by Geri Kahn | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Immigration and Customs Enforcement , Immigration enforcement

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I previously wrote a post on the Department of State's Social networking site promoting cultural exchange. Now the Department of Homeland Security is following with their social networking site called, "Our Border." The purpose of the site is to facilitate conversation between people and groups interested in issues surrounding the southwest border. Groups that are established on the site include: Citizenship and Immigration Services ("CIS"), Customs and Border Protection ("CBP"), Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") and Comprehensive Immigration Reform. It is interesting that on the DHS social networking site, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform group has the most members.

Every day the site will feature a video from the DHS' Youtube channel. (Look how far DHS has come!) Users can also post their own videos or posts. There are currently over 290 members of the networking site.

As a San Francisco bay area immigration attorney, I was kind of skeptical at first about a social networking site on border issues, but at looking at the posts, I have changed my mind. There appears to be some interesting discussion from a variety of people about border issues. There are also some good links to news stories on immigration topics. I joined the site and hope that it really will be a tool for open discussion. I will report back.

Posted by Geri Kahn | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Department of Homeland Security , Department of State , Immigration and Customs Enforcement , Social networking , U.S. Customs and Border Protection , USCIS

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