ThirdFactor | US/Mexico border biometric check point catching wanted criminals

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

At the United States and Mexico border patrol stations, fingerprinting is being used as a secondary means of identity verification, and sometimes a way to catch suspects in criminal cases, according to a Tuscon, Arizona KVOA News 4 article.

If someone crossing the border gives reason for a secondary inspection, they are brought into an office where their fingerprints will be taken. For over four years the border patrol’s fingerprint system has been linked up with the databases of the FBI and law enforcement agencies around the country. Since the system has been in place it has already caught over 1,200 people with criminal pasts.

Currently the system is used at least thirty times a day leading to at least one arrest each day. Chief of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, Bonnie Arellano, praises they system knowing that it is a fool proof method to get more criminals trying to enter the U.S. off the streets.

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US/Mexico border biometric check point catching wanted criminals