Secure Communities In D.C. Starts June 5

Secure Communities In D.C. Starts June 5

By: Patrick Madden // June 4, 2012

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and other city leaders are criticizing the federal government's decision to activate the immigration deportation program known as "Secure Communities" in the District.

The Secure Communities program requires local police departments to share arrest information, including fingerprint data, with federal immigration authorities. The federal government has been rolling out the program on a state-by-state basis, and officials are expected to activate it for D.C. Tuesday, June 5.

It is supposed to help catch violent criminals in the U.S. illegally, but critics, including Mayor Gray and other city leaders, say the program discourages undocumented immigrants from cooperating with police.

Last fall, Gray signed an executive order that directs District law enforcement officers not to detain individuals on the basis of immigration status. It also barred District agencies from making incarcerated youth and adults under their supervision available for federal immigration interviews without a court order.

Gray and members of the D.C. Council are planning to speak at news conference later today to talk about Secure Communities.

Secure Communities In D.C. Starts June 5 | WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio

Secure Communities Immigration Checks Resisted In District Of Columbia

Posted: 06/04/2012 7:14 pm

WASHINGTON -- District of Columbia council members said they plan to act swiftly on Tuesday to defy a federal immigration enforcement program the city will be forced to join the same day.

Council members said they hope to oppose the program, Secure Communities, by immediately passing a law instructing local police to ignore requests from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold certain people who have been arrested for low-level crimes.

"It's hard to argue that if a person commits a violent crime and is in this country illegally, that they shouldn't be deported ... and that's what the federal immigration authorities have said they want," D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson, who will introduce the bill, told reporters on Monday. "That's not what they've done. What we've seen over and over again is that people not convicted of a violent crime are being held, and are being held."

Mendelson's bill, which he said could immediately be enacted on Tuesday, is the latest in a series of local efforts to resist Secure Communities, in which federal immigration authorities check fingerprints taken by local police to confirm legal immigration status.

There aren't many options for jurisdictions that try to get out of the program, which started as "voluntary," according to the Department of Homeland Security, but is now defined as mandatory. State and local governments that tried to opt out of the program were told by DHS that they could only opt out of learning results of the fingerprint checks.

Some of these jurisdictions, including Cook County, Ill., and Santa Clara, Calif., decided to ignore some Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers -- legal requests that a person be held for federal arrest. D.C.'s proposed legislation allow the city to join that group.

Secure Communities opponents, including those in D.C. government, argue that the program encourages racial profiling, separates families and makes it more difficult for police to work with members of local communities. They say the program makes communities less secure, despite the name.

"Police rely on the trust of those community members that their immigration status will not be threatened by their cooperation in local law enforcement investigations," D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said. "Secure Communities jeopardizes that trust."

Gray issued an executive order last fall reiterating the city policy against asking about immigration status when making arrests.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made some steps toward reforming its detainer system. Officials announced in April that the agency would no longer issue holds for low-level traffic violations, such as driving without a license. Immigrant rights advocates said the change was welcome, but not broad enough. The Obama administration has repeatedly said that violators of non-violent crimes are a low priority for immigration enforcement.

"Over the past three years, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has dramatically changed the way it conducts immigration enforcement," spokeswoman Nicole Navas said in a statement on Monday. "ICE implemented clear priorities, enhanced the use of prosecutorial discretion, and implemented a sustained focus on the identification and removal of criminal aliens and other priority individuals."

D.C. officials said part of their reason for resisting Secure Communities is what they see as the continued violation of the district's right to make its own rules.

"Doesn't this sound familiar of our lack of self-determination here in the District of Columbia?" Council member Michael Brown asked. "Any time the federal government or the United States Congress wants to impose their will on the District of Columbia, we should always fight against it."

Secure Communities Immigration Checks Resisted In District Of Columbia

D.C. prepares to walk fine line on deportations
Gray assures immigrant groups about its limits of enforcement

By Tom Howell Jr.

The Washington Times

Monday, June 4, 2012

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray assured immigrant groups Monday that the District is doing all it can to make sure a program aimed at deporting violent aliens does not erode trust between residents and law enforcement after it goes into effect on Tuesday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has implemented the Secure Communities program in nearly all of the country’s jurisdictions since it began the effort in 2008.

Under the program, the FBI automatically shares the fingerprints and criminal data it receives from local law enforcement agencies with ICE, so immigration officials can focus their limited resources on illegal immigrants who have been charged with crimes such as murder, rape and robbery. The agency touts the program as “a simple and common-sense way” to carry out its mission.

But critics say the program has been enforced inconsistently, ensnaring low-level offenders and diminishing cooperation between immigrant populations and their local police.

“Secure Communities jeopardizes that trust, and consequently makes everyone less safe,” Mr. Gray said Monday at a news conference on the steps of the John A. Wilson Building, one day before the District is included in the program.

Despite its intentions, the program could dissuade illegal immigrants from reporting crimes to the Metropolitan Police Department or serving as witnesses out of fear of deportation, according to city leaders.

Surrounded by Hispanic advocates, Mr. Gray reiterated that the District is “not going to go about being an immigration agency for the federal government.”

D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat, said it is hard to argue with ICE’s stated goal for the program - to deport violent offenders who are in the country illegally.

“But that’s not what they’ve done,” he said. “What we’ve seen over and over again is that people who have not been convicted of a violent crime are being held - and are being held for days; no, for weeks; no, for months. They’re held on mere suspicion, a suspicion that doesn’t pan out.”

By leveraging data culled by the FBI, Secure Communities does not impose new requirements on local law enforcement, according to ICE. The FBI shares its information with immigration authorities, and the federal government - not a state or local law enforcement agency - decides whether the person is a candidate for removal from the country, the agency’s website says.

Because of this, there is little the D.C. government can do except emphasize the bright line between local and federal law enforcement and introduce measures to mitigate the program’s effects.

Mr. Gray signed an order in October that prohibits public-safety officers from asking people about their immigration status. The order also directs officers in seven D.C. agencies not to arrest people based only on their immigration status.

Domestic violence cases highlight the need to divorce local crime fighting from immigration enforcement, because spouses sometimes will threaten to call ICE when their partners try to report abuse to police, said Jaime Farrant, executive director of Ayuda, which provides legal assistance to low-income immigrants in the D.C. area.

Mr. Farrant said Mr. Gray, from the start, set the District apart from states with more aggressive stances on undocumented immigrants.

“We will not let Arizona happen in D.C.,” Mr. Gray told him, referring to Arizona’s tough law against illegal immigrants, according to Mr. Farrant.

Mr. Mendelson, chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, will introduce emergency legislation that cuts in half the amount of time, from 48 hours to 24 hours, that ICE has to pick up an inmate from the city jail on a federal immigration detainer. It also requires the federal government to pay for the detainee's stay.

An identical bill from Mr. Mendelson received unanimous support from his committee last month. Passage of an emergency version would allow the city to immediately implement the law.

A bolder form of protest, such as failure to provide fingerprints to the FBI, would flout long-standing requirements and thwart other investigative efforts, officials said.

"We have not considered such action," Mr. Gray said.

The District was among jurisdictions that tried to "opt out" of Secure Communities, but the Department of Homeland Security has since made clear that participation in the program is mandatory.

An ICE-generated map of activated jurisdictions shows that nearly all of the country has been blanketed by the program as of May 30, except for parts of Illinois and Alabama.

A report by the Homeland Security Department's Office of the Inspector General concluded ICE did not intentionally mislead the public and states. However, it "did not clearly communicate to stakeholders the intent of Secure Communities and their expected participation," said the report, released in March in response to inquiries that Rep. Zoe Lofgren, California Democrat, made in April 2011.

"As a result," the report said, "three years after implementation began, Secure Communities continues to face opposition, criticism and resistance in some locations."

Mr. Mendelson, chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, will introduce emergency legislation that cuts in half the amount of time, from 48 hours to 24 hours, that ICE has to pick up an inmate from the city jail on a federal immigration detainer. It also requires the federal government to pay for the detainee's stay.

An identical bill from Mr. Mendelson received unanimous support from his committee last month. Passage of an emergency version would allow the city to immediately implement the law.

A bolder form of protest, such as failure to provide fingerprints to the FBI, would flout long-standing requirements and thwart other investigative efforts, officials said.

"We have not considered such action," Mr. Gray said.

The District was among jurisdictions that tried to "opt out" of Secure Communities, but the Department of Homeland Security has since made clear that participation in the program is mandatory.

An ICE-generated map of activated jurisdictions shows that nearly all of the country has been blanketed by the program as of May 30, except for parts of Illinois and Alabama.

A report by the Homeland Security Department's Office of the Inspector General concluded ICE did not intentionally mislead the public and states. However, it "did not clearly communicate to stakeholders the intent of Secure Communities and their expected participation," said the report, released in March in response to inquiries that Rep. Zoe Lofgren, California Democrat, made in April 2011.

"As a result," the report said, "three years after implementation began, Secure Communities continues to face opposition, criticism and resistance in some locations."

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June 05, 2012

DC Mayor draws the line on 'Secure Communities'

Signed order in October prohibiting law enforcement from asking about immigration status; federal program to begin in city today

By Tom Howell, Jr.
The Washington Times

WASHINGTON — D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray assured immigrant groups Monday that the District is doing all it can to make sure a program aimed at deporting violent aliens does not erode trust between residents and law enforcement after it goes into effect on Tuesday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has implemented the Secure Communities program in nearly all of the country's jurisdictions since it began the effort in 2008.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Under the program, the FBI automatically shares the fingerprints and criminal data it receives from local law enforcement agencies with ICE, so immigration officials can focus their limited resources on illegal immigrants who have been charged with crimes such as murder, rape and robbery. The agency touts the program as "a simple and common-sense way" to carry out its mission.

But critics say the program has been enforced inconsistently, ensnaring low-level offenders and diminishing cooperation between immigrant populations and their local police.

"Secure Communities jeopardizes that trust, and consequently makes everyone less safe," Mr. Gray said Monday at a news conference on the steps of the John A. Wilson Building, one day before the District is included in the program.

Despite its intentions, the program could dissuade illegal immigrants from reporting crimes to the Metropolitan Police Department or serving as witnesses out of fear of deportation, according to city leaders.

Surrounded by Hispanic advocates, Mr. Gray reiterated that the District is "not going to go about being an immigration agency for the federal government."

D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat, said it is hard to argue with ICE's stated goal for the program - to deport violent offenders who are in the country illegally.

"But that's not what they've done," he said. "What we've seen over and over again is that people who have not been convicted of a violent crime are being held - and are being held for days; no, for weeks; no, for months. They're held on mere suspicion, a suspicion that doesn't pan out."

By leveraging data culled by the FBI, Secure Communities does not impose new requirements on local law enforcement, according to ICE. The FBI shares its information with immigration authorities, and the federal government — not a state or local law enforcement agency — decides whether the person is a candidate for removal from the country, the agency's website says.

Because of this, there is little the D.C. government can do except emphasize the bright line between local and federal law enforcement and introduce measures to mitigate the program's effects.

Mr. Gray signed an order in October that prohibits public-safety officers from asking people about their immigration status. The order also directs officers in seven D.C. agencies not to arrest people based only on their immigration status.

Domestic violence cases highlight the need to divorce local crime fighting from immigration enforcement, because spouses sometimes will threaten to call ICE when their partners try to report abuse to police, said Jaime Farrant, executive director of Ayuda, which provides legal assistance to low-income immigrants in the D.C. area.

Mr. Farrant said Mr. Gray, from the start, set the District apart from states with more aggressive stances on undocumented immigrants.

"We will not let Arizona happen in D.C.," Mr. Gray told him, referring to Arizona's tough law against illegal immigrants, according to Mr. Farrant.

Mr. Mendelson, chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, will introduce emergency legislation that cuts in half the amount of time, from 48 hours to 24 hours, that ICE has to pick up an inmate from the city jail on a federal immigration detainer. It also requires the federal government to pay for the detainee's stay.

An identical bill from Mr. Mendelson received unanimous support from his committee last month. Passage of an emergency version would allow the city to immediately implement the law.

A bolder form of protest, such as failure to provide fingerprints to the FBI, would flout long-standing requirements and thwart other investigative efforts, officials said.

"We have not considered such action," Mr. Gray said.

The District was among jurisdictions that tried to "opt out" of Secure Communities, but the Department of Homeland Security has since made clear that participation in the program is mandatory.

An ICE-generated map of activated jurisdictions shows that nearly all of the country has been blanketed by the program as of May 30, except for parts of Illinois and Alabama.

A report by the Homeland Security Department's Office of the Inspector General concluded ICE did not intentionally mislead the public and states. However, it "did not clearly communicate to stakeholders the intent of Secure Communities and their expected participation," said the report, released in March in response to inquiries that Rep. Zoe Lofgren, California Democrat, made in April 2011.

"As a result," the report said, "three years after implementation began, Secure Communities continues to face opposition, criticism and resistance in some locations."

DC Mayor draws the line on 'Secure Communities'