Thread: Secure communities program to be activated in Massachusetts

Secure communities program to be activated

By Maria Sacchetti
Globe Staff
May 08, 2012

Federal immigration officials will activate the controversial Secure Communities program statewide in Massachusetts on May 15, despite strong opposition from Governor Deval Patrick and advocacy groups, according to local law enforcement officials who were notified of the launch today.

The launch, a week from today, follows several high-profile motor-vehicle accidents involving illegal immigrants that intensified calls to expand the fingerprint-matching program statewide. Last week, a Cape Cod florist died after being struck by an immigrant who allegedly overstayed her visa. Last year, Matthew Denice of Milford was struck and killed by an illegal immigrant, who was arrested and charged with drunk driving.

Until now, Boston has been the only Massachusetts city involved in the program. Secure Communities, which began in 2008, electronically checks the fingerprints of everyone arrested and booked by state and local police against FBI and immigration databases, allowing federal immigration officials to seek to detain illegal immigrants for possible deportation.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson hailed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s decision to launch the program, which had been expected in Massachusetts by the end of 2013. Some local officials had pushed for it sooner, saying it would help them fight crime.

“This isn’t just a big victory for law enforcement,” he said. “This is a big victory for the families who have lost loved ones.”

Hodgson and others have been pressing Patrick to drop his opposition to the program, which, they said, delayed its implementation in Massachusetts.

Governor Deval Patrick and others had criticized Secure Communities for deporting significant numbers of immigrants who had not been convicted of any crime. But others, including the Boston police, which piloted the program before it started to expand nationwide in 2008, say the program is a valuable crimefighting tool.

Secure Communities program to be activated - Metro - The Boston Globe

Feds mandate Secure Communities in Mass.

By Christine McConville
Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Law enforcement brass are cheering a new federal order that Massachusetts must implement the illegal-alien crackdown effort known as Secure Communities by next week.

“It’s great news, for law enforcement and citizens,” said Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, an ardent supporter of the federal program, which requires police to check the fingerprints of people they arrest against FBI and immigration databases.

“We’re now going to have the most effective tool available to target criminal illegal aliens,” Hodgson added.

The unexpected federal mandate comes despite Gov. Deval Patrick’s long-running criticism of the program, which he has said promotes racial profiling and has been used to target lower-level offenders.

Patrick wasn’t available to comment on the news last night, but his public safety secretary Mary Beth Heffernan said in a statement that implementation of the program “will have no practical effect on how we handle fingerprints and information sharing here.

“We already send all fingerprints to the federal government, and have been doing so for years,” she added.

To the surprise of many, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Massachusetts sheriffs and police leaders via email yesterday that the Secure Communities would go into effect statewide May 15. The move comes days after a state trooper was injured and a Cape Cod florist died in separate car crashes, both allegedly caused by illegal aliens who were driving without licenses.

ICE said the program, which was enacted in New Hampshire yesterday, “promotes public safety, border security and the integrity of the immigration system” by allowing its agents to put a “high priority on the removal of aliens convicted of crimes, recent illegal border crossers, immigration fugitives and repeat immigration law violators.”

“This is awesome,” said Maureen Laquerre about the news last night. Laquerre has been working to reform federal immigration laws ever since her brother, Richard V. Grossi, was killed in Milford by an unlicensed illegal alien. That immigrant never served time for his death, because a federal judge allowed her to return to her native Portugal before the criminal trial on Grossi’s death ever began.

“Massachusetts is a magnet for illegal aliens, because we’ve never really gone after them until now,” she said. “Enough is enough.”

-— christine.mcconville@ bostonherald.com

Feds mandate Secure Communities in Mass. - BostonHerald.com

"Governor Deval Patrick and others had criticized Secure Communities for deporting significant numbers of immigrants who had not been convicted of any crime."

Being an illegal immigrant is a crime or did they forget?
I am very pleased to hear that they will be enforcing the safe communities.

2 more New England states join Secure Communities

May 9, 2012 5:47am

(NECN: Justin Michaels, Boston) - Two more New England states are joining the controversial, illegal immigration crackdown known as Secure Communities.

It is already in effect in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and, as of Tuesday, New Hampshire. Meanwhile, it is also about to launch across Massachusetts in the coming days.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is not happy with the decision.

In a statement, he said, "I'm persuaded that here in the commonwealth, we will give up more than we get. We run a serious risk of ethnic profiling and frankly fracturing incredibly important relationships in communities that are necessary for law enforcement."

Senator Brown also weighed in on the issue, describing the program as "an important tool in keeping our citizens safe and giving our law enforcement officials, especially sheriffs, the tools and recourses they need to do their jobs. The people of Massachusetts will finally have the protection they deserve from violent criminals who have entered our country illegally."

Safe Communities is an information sharing program between federal agencies.

Fingerprints are sent to the FBI, which, under the Secure Communities program, will now also be sent to the Department of Homeland Security, where the legality of the person can be determined.

Local police are not authorized to enforce immigration law, and illegal immigrants considered for deportation on case-by-case basis.

2 more New England states join Secure Communities

Secure Communities program to combat illegal immigration in Bristol County, state.

By Deborah Allard
Herald News
Posted May 09, 2012 @ 12:02 AM

Boston —

The controversial Secure Communities program will be launched statewide by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on May 15, despite activists’ and Gov. Deval Patrick’s opposition to the program.

Secure Communities is a federal program that electronically collects and stores the fingerprints of all who are arrested to assist immigration officials in identifying illegal immigrants, and deporting those who pose a threat to public safety.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson said the program will reduce the risks posed by unlawful illegal immigrants dramatically.

“This is a big victory for the people of Massachusetts and for law enforcement,” Hodgson said.

The program has been in effect since 2008 in Boston, and has since expanded nationwide.

Hodgson and proponents of the program say Secure Communities is a valuable law enforcement tool.

The program works by matching fingerprints in an electronic database.

Fingerprints taken by local law enforcers are currently sent to the State Identification Bureau who then forwards the submission to the Department of Justice’s FBI CJIS Division. Once the program is activated, those fingerprints will then be sent to the Department of Homeland Security, according to a communication to Hodgson and others from James E. Brown, assistant field office director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Boston field office.

Homeland Security will compare fingerprints to information in its immigration databases. When there is a match, an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement official will determine what action is appropriate.

Local law enforcement agencies and departments of correction are being asked to enforce criminal law in the same way as they did prior to the activation of Secure Communities.

Hodgson said the new program will deter fugitives from relocating from Secure Communities, such as California, to Massachusetts. He said they were coming to the state for a “safe place.”

“It protects the lawful citizens of our country,” Hodgson said. “It’s fortunate for us that the federal government is listening.”

Patrick has opposed the program and said it runs a serious risk of ethnic profiling and fracturing important relationships necessary for law enforcement.

Supporters, including U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, said the program is important to help identify illegal immigrants arrested for crimes.

In 2011, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement removed 319,077 individuals from the country, according to removal statistics on its website. Of those, 55 percent or 216,698 were ranked as convicted criminal aliens in a variety of felonies and misdemeanors.

The category included 1,119 aliens convicted of homicide, 5,848 aliens convicted of sexual offenses, 44,653 aliens convicted for crimes involving drugs, and 35,927 aliens convicted for driving under the influence.

Also in 2011, 45,938 individuals classified as recent border crossers were returned, along with another 96,529 aliens who were either repeat immigration violators or immigration fugitives.

Secure Communities program to combat illegal immigration in Bristol County, state - Dighton, MA - Wicked Local Dighton

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Secure Communities program begins in Massachusetts

By Associated Press
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - Updated 15 minutes ago

A federal program aimed at identifying illegal immigrants arrested for crimes has gone into effect in Massachusetts, despite concerns raised by Gov. Deval Patrick and others.

The Secure Communities program, which shares arrestee fingerprints with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, was activated statewide Tuesday.

Supporters say it will help identify illegal immigrants arrested for crimes in Massachusetts.

But the Democratic governor has expressed concerns of it opening the door to racial profiling. Patrick said the program will result in increased fear in minority communities.

According to a spokesman from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 44 states and Puerto Rico have now implemented the information sharing program.

Federal officials have said the program doesn’t authorize local police departments to enforce immigration law.

Secure Communities program begins in Massachusetts - BostonHerald.com