Panel: Feds should help state ID illegal immigrants

DENVER - The federal government should open its fingerprint records to Colorado authorities to help them catch illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes, a state panel said Tuesday.

The recommendation came four months after a suspected illegal immigrant with a long Colorado rap sheet was accused of causing a crash that killed a 3-year-old boy and two women in suburban Denver.

The suspect, Guatemala-born Francis M. Hernandez, had more than a dozen prior arrests in Colorado but managed to stay off immigration officials' radar. Authorities say he used 12 aliases and two dates of birth.

The panel said the federal fingerprint databases would help state and local authorities identify suspects who don't have documents or who lie about who they are.

The panel of law officers, attorneys and criminal justice officials from throughout Colorado was convened by the Colorado Department of Public Safety after Gov. Bill Ritter ordered a review of gaps in immigration enforcement revealed by the Hernandez case.

Department of Public Safety spokesman Lance Clem said the panel's report could provide ideas for state lawmakers.

The panel said Colorado's congressional delegation should "vigorously advocate" for access to the federal fingerprint records. Only Texas and North Carolina currently have that access.

Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said they hope to expand access to other states under the "Secure Communities" program. It allows local authorities access to both federal criminal and immigration records when they take suspects' fingerprints during the booking process.

The report also recommended adding to the 700 jail beds available in Colorado and Wyoming to house suspected illegal immigrants for ICE; reimbursing local authorities for detaining suspected illegal immigrants; better communication between ICE and local authorities; and federally funded training in immigration enforcement for state judges, prosecutors and law officers.

But the panel said it strongly believes immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government, not the states.

The Colorado State Patrol has a 23-member unit that underwent immigration-enforcement training and has the authority to detain immigration suspects. The unit has made more than 930 arrests since July.

ICE said the program has become popular since it began in 2006, with more than 800 officers taking in the training in 18 states.

But the Colorado panel said putting more state and local officers in the program would not solve the state's immigration problems unless jail space is increased and the impact on the court system is taken into consideration.

One panel member, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates, warns in the report that having police officers enforce immigration laws could undermine community trust and make immigrants afraid to cooperate during criminal investigations.

Other panel members advocated training jail personnel in immigration-enforcement. The report said El Paso County reduced jail crowding by speeding up the time it takes for suspected illegal immigrants to be processed.

El Paso County officials said that before some of its deputies took the training this year, an average of 130 inmates a day were being held on immigration violations, and they were held there for an average of 54 days. Afterward, the averages were reduced to an 80 immigration inmates on any given day and a jail stay of 41 days.