About 111,000 illegal immigrants in state and local lockups, officials say

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More than 111,000 illegal immigrants are serving time in state and local prisons and jails in the U.S., Obama administration officials said today.

The figure is based on reports from 95 jurisdictions in 11 states participating in a national program, Secure Communities. The program, which began in October 2008, identified people who were charged with or convicted of murder, kidnapping, rape and burglary, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The federal government has struggled for years to identify imprisoned illegal immigrants, with an eye toward deporting them after they finish their sentences. Immigration officials say they have had difficulty collecting accurate information from such a diffuse system.

By providing links to federal fingerprint databases, the government is having more success identifying illegal immigrants, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.

“Secure Communities provides our local partners with an effective tool to identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens,� she said in a statement.

The Obama administration has made the removal of illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes a priority.

-- Bloomberg News