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March 20, 2000 Inspector General Report on Resendez-Ramirez/IDENT Protecting Americans from the threat posed by criminal aliens is a top priority of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The agency is fully committed to the effort, as is demonstrated by the record number of removals of criminal aliens from the United States in recent years. Last summer, when the Resendez-Ramirez case raised serious questions about INS handling of the case, INS Commissioner Doris Meissner asked the Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) to investigate. INS has now received the IGs final report and recommendations on how INS can improve its use of the IDENT system and the training of officers who use it. The IGs report sets out a series of recommendations regarding training. INS has been evaluating IDENT training and developing new IDENT training plans since August 1999. In addition, INS has developed an IDENT computer-based training module, which could provide both basic and refresher training for all INS officers. The new IDENT training plans will be used to augment the computer training. The INS will respond with an action plan that intensifies and standardizes IDENT training practices and methods. In August 1998, INS established specific, standardized policies and procedures on how and when to use IDENT. INS is currently reviewing implementation to ensure consistent compliance with those policies and procedures. We concur with the IGs finding that IDENT would be more effective if it contained historical data collected prior to its implementation. However, fiscal constraints made it necessary for INS to implement IDENT with data starting from the time IDENT was deployed. INS will continue to work with the Department of Justice and local law enforcement agencies to promote the efficient use of IDENT and to ensure full understanding of IDENTs role in the wide array of biometrics and text-based identification systems. INS also will continue to move forward as expeditiously as possible in the proposed merger of IDENT and the FBIs Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). The IDENT system was created in 1994 and widely deployed in 1997-1998. It contains the photos and the two index finger fingerprints of individuals INS has apprehended from that time forward. It also contains criminal history data. The system has proven to be extremely effective in providing INS with critical information on criminal aliens where automated information had not been available before. The system contains a recidivist database and a lookout database. It is designed to provide an immediate identification of individuals INS apprehends. The recidivist database indicated how many times a particular alien has been apprehended crossing the border illegally. This information, coupled with the threshold set by each U.S. Attorney for prosecution, helps INS determine when an individual should be detained and presented for prosecution or allowed to voluntarily return. INS IDENT Lookout Database contains more than 400,000 records of aliens with criminal histories and prior deportations. It has provided the agency with more than 85,000 "hits" and has assisted INS in presenting a record number of individuals for prosecution by U.S. Attorneys. INS began widespread deployment of IDENT across the Southwest border in 1997, and it is now used at more than 400 sites along both borders, as well as at some international airports, asylum and district offices. INS |
Last Modified 02/20/2003