st. paul

It seems common sense to check local jails for people in the country illegally who have committed other crimes.

But before 2008, nobody regularly checked booking fingerprints against immigration fingerprints.

They do now. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Wednesday announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed more than 392,000 illegal aliens from the United States in fiscal 2010 -- which ended Sept. 30. That number is a record and 23,000 higher than the previous year.

But Minnesota has yet to sign on to the Secure Communities program, which checks every person booked into jail against federal immigration records. Some say that the delay is tied to a thornier political issue: immigration reform.

Of the 392,000 arrested in fiscal 2010, more than 195,000 were convicted criminals -- another record.

In calendar 2010 alone, officials have arrested more than 59,000 criminal aliens, including more than 21,000 convicted of major violent offenses such as murder, rape and child sexual abuse.

In ICE's St. Paul jurisdiction, which includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa, agents removed 5,925 illegal immigrants in fiscal 2010, including 2,817 convicted of other crimes.

"Fingerprints don't lie," ICE Director John Morton said.

Not so fast, said John Keller, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center in St. Paul. "We don't want criminals doing us harm," Keller said. But there is concern that enforcement efforts are outpacing promised reform that could give otherwise law-abiding people a path to citizenship and legal residency, he said.

Half the people deported by ICE in the past year have committed no crime other than being here illegally, he said.

Napolitano said Congress has to do something about providing a path to citizenship for people here illegally, provided they pass criminal background checks and "get right with the law." In the meantime, "this administration takes very seriously the responsibility to secure the borders and enforce our nation's immigration laws."

Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek and Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher could not be reached for comment.

James Franklin, executive director of the Minnesota Sheriffs Association, said Minnesota's outsider status probably has more to do with lack of funding and personnel. He said other parts of the country may have been a higher priority.

When Secure Communities began in 2008, just 14 local law enforcement agencies were on board, Morton said. Now, more than 660 state and local agencies in 33 states are participating. Officials said they expect every law enforcement jurisdiction to participate by 2013 -- including Minnesota.

James Walsh • 612-673-7428