HOUSTON (AP) - The Harris County Sheriff's Office is leading a test of an automated fingerprint check system that allows jailers to simultaneously review suspects' immigration and criminal histories, thereby helping to identify and remove non-U.S. citizens convicted of crimes.

The new program links the FBI's database with the Department of Homeland Security's database, known as IDENT (the Automated Biometric Identification System), officials said Monday. All inmates will be run against the database.

The Sheriff's Office was selected to lead the pilot program in part because Houston has “one of the largest criminal alien populations in the United States,” said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Gregory Palmore, the Houston Chronicle reported in its online edition.

Palmore said the process is automated and any “hits” for non-citizens will be referred to ICE's Law Enforcement Support Center for more investigation, officials said.

It is not the first time the jail was selected to participate in an immigration-pilot program.

In February 2007, Harris County was selected as one of a handful of law enforcement agencies to test a more limited version of the integrated databases. That earlier version of the database contained records from ICE and information on people rejected for visas by the Department of State based on specific criteria.

In August, nine Harris County jailers were trained in an ICE program that gave them the ability to check the DHS databases, but they had to run fingerprints separately through the FBI and immigration systems. Officials said the new program will not require any additional training.

Calling illegal immigration “a complex issue,” Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas said “the best solutions to complex issues are found when law enforcement agencies at all levels work together, in cooperation with the community,” according to a statement.