Thread: CHIRLA Join Others In Denouncing ICE's 'Poison Pill

CHIRLA Officials Join Others In Denouncing ICE's 'Poison Pill'

Written by Alex Garcia, Sun Contributing Writer
11 August 2011 02:21

Secure Communities Program Not an Option, Say Immigration Authorities; Pro-Immigrant Groups Ponder Lawsuit Against the Program

Pro-immigrant groups have blasted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after a recent telephone briefing where immigration authorities announced states and municipalities cannot opt out of the much-criticized Secure Communities program.

The program mandates that the fingerprints of all people booked at county jails for any offense, whether misdemeanor or felony, are referred to DHS so that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can determine if the person is subject to deportation.

"Basically, what DHS said is that those 39 agreements they had with states, which had a clause that allowed them to get out of the program, are no longer valid," said Jorge Mario Cabrera, spokesperson for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). "This is now essentially a law for the entire country.

"Basically, it's a poison pill they're ramming down our throats," he added.

State officials in Illinois and New York have recently stated a desire to get out of the program. City officials in San Francisco have alleged that people with no criminal record were being unfairly targeted under Secure Communities, and the threat of deportation was eroding public trust in law enforcement.

Locally, CHIRLA has denounced the program for basically the same reason, particularly after an ice cream vendor arrested in Van Nuys for illegally selling around a school ended up in deportation proceedings.

The woman is still awaiting the judge's decision in her case. Similarly, a female victim of domestic violence faced deportation proceedings after she was arrested following an altercation with her boyfriend. ICE later rescinded that decision.

"The federal government's decision to abrogate existing agreements with states on Secure Communities - a fatally flawed program that has proven to accomplish little other than splitting apart families and undermining cooperation with law enforcement - is a severe threat to civil rights in our nation," said Thomas A. Saenz, president and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF).

"The government's unilateral action is suspiciously timed, a clear response to numerous state leaders who have openly expressed serious doubts about, and strong opposition to, continued involvement with Secure Communities based on experience with the program's disruption of community and economy," he said.

Since it's inception in 2008, and through June 30, 2011, Secure Communities has resulted in 187,811 referrals to immigration authorities and 86,616 deportations around the country. The program operates in nearly half of all jurisdictions in the United States, with a goal of reaching 100 percent by 2013.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca defended the program in an opinion piece published in May, citing two cases of drunk drivers stopped by his deputies.

A fingerprint check revealed one of the drivers was an undocumented immigrant with three prior drug trafficking convictions, and six deportations in 11 years. The other had been deported in 1997 for killing a child.

"The program enables law enforcement agencies to identify criminals who are here illegally and allows the federal government to target those who have committed serious crimes for deportation so they no longer pose a threat to our communities," Baca wrote in his opinion piece.

He added that concerns about the program leading to racial profiling, or preventing people from reporting crimes and helping authorities solve cases for fear of ending up in deportation, were "misplaced," claiming those problems had not occurred in Secure Communities, or another, similar program called 287g.

"We did have a serious problem, however, before implementing the programs. We had a growing number of criminal illegal immigrants who were taken into custody and eventually had to be released back onto our streets," Baca wrote.

"As law enforcers, it is our job to use all available resources to protect citizens and uphold the rule of law. Like members of Congress, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, I see the removal of criminal illegal immigrants as a top priority in securing both the nation and our communities," he concluded.

Meeting On Secure Communities

After criticism of the program, ICE created a Task Force charged with making recommendations to better focus on individuals who pose a true public safety or national security threat.

The Task Force - which includes Baca among others - will meet in Los Angeles on Monday, Aug. 15, to hear testimonies on the Secure Communities program. The meeting is scheduled from 4-6 p.m., at the La Placita Church, 535 N. Main St. in downtown Los Angeles.

CHIRLA does not expect the Task Force recommendations to have any meaningful impact, however.

"They already told us the changes will be minimum," said Cabrera, who called the meeting a "sham."

"It's a game, a circus, and unfortunately we're going to have to dress up as clowns and dance to their tune because if we're absent they can do whatever they want," he said.

CHIRLA officials plan to take a large contingent to the meeting, including people who will testify how the program has affected them. They also plan to hold a protest outside the venue to show their discontent with the program.

Lawsuit Considered

But pro-immigrant supporters are looking beyond street protests. CHIRLA and other pro-immigrant groups are considering filing a collective lawsuit against the DHS, and its decision to make the program mandatory.

Groups from all over the country were scheduled to take part in a conference call Wednesday, Aug. 10, to analyze the lawsuit.

"The Department of Homeland Security has clearly shown that its regard for rules, community safety, and transparency take a backseat to using Secure Communities, a fundamentally flawed program, to advance its mass deportation agenda," said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.

"Since the program's inception, the program's rules of engagement have shifted to fit DHS's needs and not the needs of our communities. A program that was once voluntary has become mandatory, and a program that was sold as customizable to address community concerns has become a one size- fits-all mandate."

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

E-mail your thoughts to the editor at editor@sanfernandosun.com.

http://www.sanfernandosun.com/sanfernsu ... oison-pill

These LaRaza based groups are complaining because Secure Communities WORKS. It removes the criminal invaders.