Thread: Illinois: State Leaves Immigration Program

Illinois: State Leaves Immigration Program

By JULIA PRESTON
Published: May 4, 2011

Gov. Pat Quinn has withdrawn the state from a federal program that runs immigration checks on fingerprints of everyone arrested by the state and local police. In a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Mr. Quinn, a Democrat, said he was canceling Illinois’ participation in the program, known as Secure Communities, because of “a conflictâ€

Now we'll find out IF they can leave or not.

Opposition to 'Secure Communities' Dropped
"I wanted to remind everybody that we are not able to stop this program; it’s not a volunteer participation program … and by 2013, it will be nationwide,"
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-236829.html

Montgomery waves white flag on Secure Communities
Montgomery County officials Tuesday acknowledged they are powerless to block a federal program that leads to more deportations of arrested illegal immigrants.
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-236819.html

As of 5/3/11 IL. had 26 of 102 jurisdictions activated as Secure Communities.
456 illegal aliens had been deported by Secure Communities.

Illinois Drops Secure Communities as Fierce Opposition Mounts in Massachussetts, Other States

By Tanya Pérez-Brennan
Published May 05, 2011
Fox News Latino

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has announced his intention to drop out of the federal Secure Communities program – a decision that may serve as a precedent for other states where opposition is also mounting.

Secure Communities, which calls for automatic checks of the immigration status of those arrested by local and state police, is "flawed," Quinn said in a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The governor, who made his announcement on Wednesday, made clear that Illinois State Police will no longer participate.

The withdrawal is a serious blow to the controversial immigration enforcement initiative – which has polarized communities in other states, like California and Massachusetts – despite federal pressure to implement the program nationwide by 2013.

In Massachusetts, activists say that protests by communities across the country are necessary to prevent the federal government from imposing the program on local jurisdictions.

“It’s not inevitable,â€