Three Virginia congressmen want federal officials to make it easier for police to determine whether criminal suspects are illegal immigrants.

Police in many localities now use the honor system, asking suspects from other countries about their immigration status when they're arrested. A national database lets police check their criminal history.

But Republican Congressman Eric Cantor said that database doesn't include immigration status, which is maintained in a separate database by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, Cantor and fellow Virginia Republicans Thelma Drake and Rob Wittman ask officials to create a solution, like linking the two databases or giving police automatic access to the ICE database.