Sedgwick County first in Kan. to use biometric information to identify immigrants in custody

When I hear the coined term biometrics I normally think of RF micro-chips, DNA samples, iris recognition, vocal tract recoginition, face recognition and of course fingerprints.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has expanded its controversial 287(g) and Secure Communities programs. Section 287(g) gives local law enforcement agencies the power to enforce federal immigration law, while Secure Communities checks detainees’ FINGERPRINTS against federal databases for criminal or immigration status violations.

Secure Communities programs biometric identification = fingerprints and a picture!!

A technology that's been used by law enforcement for well over 100 years.

This is not something new.

"In Australia, biometrics data acquisition is already used in some immigration and citizenship processes but has now been expanded to include all onshore protection visa applicants. It is believed to be a way to improve border security for Australia and to maintain the integrity of visa and migration programs. It helps establish the identity of protection visa applicants who travel to Australia but are often unable to provide sufficient documentation to prove their identity."

http://www.migrationexpert.com/australia/visa...
Biometrics to strengthen Visa and Immigration security

Why not brand a number into each "immigrant" that is in custody? It sounds more cost effective to me and would assist ALL law enforcement agencies in identifying these criminals as well...

"Prisons, and punishment, were becoming increasingly cruel and torturing, from branding to cutting off limbs, to holding pens for the nastiest in society. "People acted worse afterward," Kelley said. Eventually, in 1787, a group of influential Philadelphians convened in the home of Benjamin Franklin and became the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons. "They said,'Let's find a way that these people can come out better than they went in,' " said Kelley. "They basically held to the Quaker belief that people were basically good."

http://www.northjersey.com/travel/111339554_A...
A prison is Philadelphia's second biggest tourist attraction