It's something state and federal officials have been working on for some time now -- working together to move inmates with questionable legal status through the system quickly.

On Friday, that process became a lot easier.

Officials today showed off a brand-new facility to process inmates inside the state prison.

Now, it's part of a plan that was put in place a few years ago.

In 2005, the state teamed up with ICE to certify corrections officers as ICE agents.

On Friday, five new agents were certified this week, bringing the total to 17 dually trained officers.

"We fingerprint them, we photograph them, we run all the background checks and that's how we get all the paperwork and everything," said Lousa Gomez, a correctional officer.

It used to take two to three months to process inmates and now with the help of the Arizona Department of Corrections, it takes up to three to five days.

"Immigration is a big issue here in the state of Arizona and we can identify them and process them expeditiously before they actually get into the system," said Anthony Sayas, a correctional officer.

The partnership not only speeds things up, but it saves taxpayers millions.

"We have achieved a savings of nearly $9 million in just a first year of operation and that's really important for all of us that we free up Arizona prison beds for Arizona prisoners as early as possible," said Dora Schiro, director of the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Inmates who come through the sheriff's department will be processed in a new trailer located at the Arizona State Prison complex in Phoenix.

"For example, today over 80 prisoners were delivered from three counties," Schiro said. "This is part of the intake process. We identify from the minute they walk off the bus who is foreign national and then who may be a criminal alien also eligible for deportation."

Then she said they'll be returned to their home countries.

The new dually trained corrections officers will also be working with two to three ICE officials at the new facility as well.