Its a start
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Mexico Border Scans Net Criminals, No Terrorists
Fri Jan 14, 1:43 PM ET World - Reuters
By Tim Gaynor
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (Reuters) - Fingerprint scanners deployed on the U.S.-Mexican border to detect terrorism suspects have caught no would-be bombers but thousands of other criminals, including murderers, kidnappers and sex offenders.
Border Patrol agents have snared 33,000 criminals -- most of them along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico -- since the digital fingerprinting system linking immigration and FBI (news - web sites) databases went live nationwide in early September.
"It has not only enhanced their ability to detect immigration offenses but also to apprehend suspects wanted for serious crimes such as homicide, kidnapping and sex offenses," U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mario Villarreal said in a telephone interview.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security began cross-referencing the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS, to help secure the United States from terrorist attack.
The U.S.-Mexico border was widely seen as a soft spot in U.S. security after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Border policing was tightened with extra agents and new technology but so far officials have not announced the capture of a single terror suspect.
Officials say the technology has allowed the Border Patrol to catch more than 100 homicide suspects and more than 200 sex offenders in the last four months, singled out from more than 200,000 undocumented migrants detained during the period.
Rank-and-file Border Patrol agents like the technology, which is used at border crossings and by agents who pick up illegal migrants in the desert.
"You have a guy who looks like a harmless grandfather, but lo-and-behold when you run his prints through IAFIS it turns out that he's a three-times convicted child molester from Fresno," said Steve McPartland, a spokesman for Border Patrol in San Diego, California.
"It's the best thing that's happened to us, as it's closed a loophole that in the past allowed potential criminal aliens to be released from our custody," he added.
Border Patrol agents now scan all 10 fingers of each of the thousands of adult illegal migrants picked up crossing the U.S. border each day, whether entering from Canada, Mexico or in certain coastal areas.
Previously, agents ran just two prints through the immigration service's biometric system. Now the complete set of prints is simultaneously cross-matched against an FBI database.
Most of the 33,000 criminals caught so far are former felons who have served out a sentence for minor crimes but, by trying to sneak back into the United States, commit a new felony.
Felons identified by the system are handed over to federal authorities, if it is a serious crime, or are passed on to police in the state where an outstanding warrant was issued.
In Arizona, a route used by more than 40 percent of illegal migrants crossing the U.S. border, agents say IAFIS has proved so successful that some criminals have taken to mutilating their fingertips to avoid identification.
"We occasionally apprehend aliens who have used sandpaper to file off their fingerprints, or have covered their fingertips in glue in an attempt to avoid recognition," Tucson sector Border Patrol spokesman Charles Griffin said.
"It really doesn't prevent us from figuring out who they are, it just makes us even more determined," he said.
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Fri Jan 14, 1:43 PM ET World - Reuters
By Tim Gaynor
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (Reuters) - Fingerprint scanners deployed on the U.S.-Mexican border to detect terrorism suspects have caught no would-be bombers but thousands of other criminals, including murderers, kidnappers and sex offenders.
Border Patrol agents have snared 33,000 criminals -- most of them along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico -- since the digital fingerprinting system linking immigration and FBI (news - web sites) databases went live nationwide in early September.
"It has not only enhanced their ability to detect immigration offenses but also to apprehend suspects wanted for serious crimes such as homicide, kidnapping and sex offenses," U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mario Villarreal said in a telephone interview.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security began cross-referencing the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS, to help secure the United States from terrorist attack.
The U.S.-Mexico border was widely seen as a soft spot in U.S. security after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Border policing was tightened with extra agents and new technology but so far officials have not announced the capture of a single terror suspect.
Officials say the technology has allowed the Border Patrol to catch more than 100 homicide suspects and more than 200 sex offenders in the last four months, singled out from more than 200,000 undocumented migrants detained during the period.
Rank-and-file Border Patrol agents like the technology, which is used at border crossings and by agents who pick up illegal migrants in the desert.
"You have a guy who looks like a harmless grandfather, but lo-and-behold when you run his prints through IAFIS it turns out that he's a three-times convicted child molester from Fresno," said Steve McPartland, a spokesman for Border Patrol in San Diego, California.
"It's the best thing that's happened to us, as it's closed a loophole that in the past allowed potential criminal aliens to be released from our custody," he added.
Border Patrol agents now scan all 10 fingers of each of the thousands of adult illegal migrants picked up crossing the U.S. border each day, whether entering from Canada, Mexico or in certain coastal areas.
Previously, agents ran just two prints through the immigration service's biometric system. Now the complete set of prints is simultaneously cross-matched against an FBI database.
Most of the 33,000 criminals caught so far are former felons who have served out a sentence for minor crimes but, by trying to sneak back into the United States, commit a new felony.
Felons identified by the system are handed over to federal authorities, if it is a serious crime, or are passed on to police in the state where an outstanding warrant was issued.
In Arizona, a route used by more than 40 percent of illegal migrants crossing the U.S. border, agents say IAFIS has proved so successful that some criminals have taken to mutilating their fingertips to avoid identification.
"We occasionally apprehend aliens who have used sandpaper to file off their fingerprints, or have covered their fingertips in glue in an attempt to avoid recognition," Tucson sector Border Patrol spokesman Charles Griffin said.
"It really doesn't prevent us from figuring out who they are, it just makes us even more determined," he said.
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I have said this before. My solution to aliens crossing our borders.
Build towers every 50 miles or so. Man them with National Guard troops using .50 caliber snipe guns.
No one knows which ones are manned at any time.
Blow off a few heads and leave them in the desert.
Word spreads fast.
Problem over.
Build towers every 50 miles or so. Man them with National Guard troops using .50 caliber snipe guns.
No one knows which ones are manned at any time.
Blow off a few heads and leave them in the desert.
Word spreads fast.
Problem over.
The product that we have used for Guard Towers in prison projects is a 12' x 12' shaft that can go as high as 80'.
The product comes in 10' tall sections, which we could vary for odd heights
Oldcastle manufacturers 4 sided , monolithically cast concrete tower modules using 5,000 + P.S.I. steel reinforced concrete.
Machined ridged steel molds, manufactured by Oldcastle, enable us to maintain the tightest industry tolerances with no seams, delivered to the site on time.
Modules offer unlimited layout choices
Architectural finishes are available for aesthetically appealing exterior facades.
The product comes in 10' tall sections, which we could vary for odd heights
Oldcastle manufacturers 4 sided , monolithically cast concrete tower modules using 5,000 + P.S.I. steel reinforced concrete.
Machined ridged steel molds, manufactured by Oldcastle, enable us to maintain the tightest industry tolerances with no seams, delivered to the site on time.
Modules offer unlimited layout choices
Architectural finishes are available for aesthetically appealing exterior facades.
Rumor has it that Bush is going to man and arm the borders with the homosexual arm of the miitary(S.E.A.L.S) using Gay bombs. Any truth to it?
Scott-Atlanta said:
There goes any chance of me and the GF going on that vacation to Mexico...........or any other country South of the border. :sadwave:
I'm thinking we should implement KOD's plan across the Northern border instead. I won't be taking any vacations up there any time soon.
Bad Karma
Bad Karma
I must have upset the cosmic balance to incur your wrath. :weed:
How about some Nigerian Watchdogs:
Murph- What's long and green and full of a**holes?
Thats right...St Patrick's Day parade.
Bad Karma
Scott-Atlanta said:
I must have upset the cosmic balance to incur your wrath. :weed:
How about some Nigerian Watchdogs:
Murph- What's long and green and full of a**holes?
Thats right...St Patrick's Day parade.
Fortress America? come on in stay a while. Yes we do pay 3 bucks a hour. Beats that 50 cents back home don't it? None of our Americans will work for 3 bucks so come and get-em. 1st stop wall mart in Arkansan.
...................................................................djv said:
djv
The mexican labor that stand on pick up corners all around the metro area here make 10 bucks a hour. They won't even get into the truck if you offer 8.
Funny I don't see Americans standing out there
that will work temp labor jobs.
