3 California counties will check immigration status as inmates enter jail

“Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego will become the first counties in California to begin checking the immigration status of all inmates booked into jail as part of a national effort to identify and deport more illegal immigrants with criminal records.

Law enforcement officials in the three counties will begin running inmates’ fingerprints through federal databases this month to see if they have had any contact with the immigration system. Immigration officials will place holds on those believed to be in the country illegally. Once the inmates have finished serving their sentences, they will be transferred to immigration custody for possible deportation….”

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immigjail14-2009may14,0,7781561.storyAnna Gorman, LA Times, 14 May 2009