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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Immigration Ruling Clears the Way for Rollout of Secure Communities Across Alabama

    Immigration Ruling Clears the Way for Rollout of Secure Communities Across Alabama

    By: Mickey McCarter
    08/21/2012 ( 6:00am)

    A federal circuit court ruling on a lawsuit against the state of Alabama over a tough state immigration law (HB 56) clears the way for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to finish rolling out a biometric identification program that determines if individuals arrested by police also are illegal aliens.

    In appearances before Congress this year, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano vowed to complete the implementation of the Secure Communities program to a remaining half of Alabama counties by Oct. 1 once a suit filed by the Justice Department to stop the law was resolved by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which delivered a decision on the case United States v. Alabama Monday.

    "We anticipate that nationwide deployment of Secure Communities across all remaining jurisdictions will be finished" by fiscal year 2013, Napolitano told a hearing of the House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee on Feb. 15, estimating Secure Communities currently provided coverage to 75 percent of Alabama's foreign-born population.

    Under questioning by Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), the subcommittee chairman, she continued, "I think one of the differences between the remaining Alabama counties and Arizona and South Carolina is that those states were basically turned on before litigation commenced. And as you know, the Alabama law has been upheld in part, and joined in part. It's a somewhat confusing situation due to be argued in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the near future, and I believe it prudent to await the 11th Circuit's guidance on this issue."

    The circuit court largely ruled in favor of the federal government Monday, declaring "most of the challenged provisions cannot stand."

    The provisions of Alabama HB 56 that the court struck down included laws against harboring or transporting an illegal alien, criminalizing attempts by illegal aliens to find jobs, and requiring schools to verify that students enrolled reside in the United States legally.

    Following the precedent of a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year in Arizona v. United States, the circuit court upheld a provision of the law that directs police officers to verify the legal presence of those they suspect of being illegal immigrants. The court also ruled that the state could make it a felony for illegal aliens to enter into a "public records transaction" such as applying for or renewing a driver's license, any other state identification card, a business license, a professional license or similar authorizations.

    Although most of the challenged provisions were overturned, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley described the ruling as a victory for his state.

    "The essence of Alabama's immigration law has been upheld by today's ruling," Bentley said in a statement Monday. "The court is recognizing the state's authority to inquire on immigration status in certain circumstances. The court is also allowing the public records transaction provision to continue to be enforced.

    "This law is needed because the federal government has refused to enforce its own policies. The federal government has also failed to approach immigration reform in a comprehensive manner," he added.

    States like Arizona and Alabama that have passed tough immigration laws have argued that DHS has not done enough to keep illegal aliens from entering the country and that it has failed to resolve their legal status or remove them once they are here.

    Governors, including Bentley, have largely supported the Secure Communities program, however, which checks fingerprints of individuals arrested against DHS immigration databases to determine if a suspect is also an illegal alien through an agreement with the Justice Department. According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which administers the program, about 97 percent of local legal jurisdictions across the United States have received the ability to cross-check immigration status via Secure Communities. However, only 37 out of 67 counties in Alabama, or 55 percent, have received the program as of Aug. 1.

    As recently as July 10, ICE Director John Morton assured Congress that DHS would complete the rollout of Secure Communities in Alabama soon.

    "I am confident we will complete full deployment in the near future starting with the remaining jurisdictions in Alabama when the 11th circuit rules on the pending litigation over Alabama's immigration law," Morton testified before the House Homeland Security border security subcommittee.

    He later added, "I think the Supreme Court's decision in Arizona will lead us to a place where the 11th Circuit will rule and we will be able to fully deploy in the remaining counties of Alabama over the autumn."

    DHS suspended the rollout of Secure Communities to Alabama in July 2011, one month after the state passed HB 56. The matter came up frequently in Congress after the Obama administration stated it would not expand the program in the state in 2012 until resolution of the constitutionality of its immigration law.

    In a letter to Napolitano dated Feb. 14, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and other Republicans in the Alabama congressional delegation argued that the DHS decision harmed public safety efforts in his state.

    "Your department's decision to cease assisting Alabama in the removal of dangerous illegal aliens is wholly inconsistent with this administration's stated position of focusing on the removal of those very individuals," Sessions protested.

    Although Alabama lawmakers sought the full implementation of Secure Communities earlier this year, public statements by Napolitano and Morton indicate ICE indeed will now complete it by the end of the fiscal year.

    Homeland Security Today: Immigration Ruling Clears the Way for Rollout of Secure Communities Across Alabama
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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