Congresswoman seems to think compliance with immigration law should be voluntary

April 25th, 2011 7:37 am ET

Dave Gibson
Immigration Reform Examiner

On Friday, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) publicly accused federal immigration officials of lying about the implementation of the Secure Communities program that identifies illegal aliens in local jails.

Lofgren told reporters: “It is inescapable that the [Department of Homeland Security] was not honest with the local governments or with me" about whether local jurisdictions must participate. You can’t have a government department essentially lying to local government and to members of Congress. This is not OK.â€