Thread: D.C. Council bucking ICE's Secure Communities

D.C. Council bucking ICE's Secure Communities

washingtonexaminer.com
By: Liz Farmer | 11/15/11 6:35 PM
Examiner Staff Writer

The D.C. Council is pushing through a bill that would shorten the amount of time local police are authorized to hold illegal immigrants for the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement before letting them free.

The proposal by at-large Councilman Phil Mendelson and backed by the entire council would limit the time police can hold someone on an ICE civil detainer to 24 hours, down from the federally recommended 48 hours. The legislation comes nearly one month after Mayor Vincent Gray issued his policy on working with ICE, which included the 48-hour recommendation.

Mendelson said Tuesday that cost was a key issue for the District -- roughly $128 per day is spent on each person held by the Department of Corrections.

"We're struggling right now, our jails are at capacity," he said, adding that the only extension of that would be if the District has "a written agreement that ICE would reimburse the costs."

The legislation applies only to nonviolent detainees.

Gray spokeswoman Doxie McCoy said the mayor supports the council's move to keep District money from going toward federal immigration enforcement.

When asked about the council shortening the length of time that police need to detain residents for ICE, McCoy said the mayor would "work with the council on the best scenario [for handling illegal immigrants] related to preserving public safety, immigrant rights and city resources."

The council and Gray have been outspoken about their opposition to the federal Secure Communities program that searches out illegal immigrants accused of a crime, saying it makes local law enforcement do the work of federal law enforcement.

However, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Paul Quander has said the program isn't "something you 'opt out' of" because D.C. is federally mandated to send fingerprints of those arrested for violent crimes to the FBI. Under Secure Communities, it is the job of the FBI and ICE to check the immigration status of those arrested and issue a detainer for them if necessary.

But Mendelson said Tuesday that limiting the detainer time is a way of bucking the program.

According to ICE's website, there is no law requiring individuals to be held for 48 hours; however the "longstanding guidance" is to not detain people "for more than 48 hours."

lfarmer@washingtonexaminer.com

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D.C. Council Takes Stand Against Helping Feds Round Up Illegal Immigrants
Bill Would Bar Police From Detaining Illegal Immigrants on Minor Charges

nbcwashington.com
By Tom Sherwood
Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011
Updated 9:15 PM EST

Video @ link

The D.C. Council took a strong stand on illegal immigration enforcement Tuesday. All 13 council members signed a bill that would bar local police officers from helping federal officials round up illegal immigrants, with the exception of extreme cases.

While D.C. already is a "sanctuary city," the new law would make it clear where the city stands.

Federal immigration enforcement officials round up and deport tens of thousands of illegal immigrants each year. Under a federal secure communities program, they try to get local law enforcement to help by detaining illegal immigrants even on minor charges.

The law supported by all council members would prevent D.C. police from participating except in extreme cases of violent criminals or other serious crimes.

The federal program is costly and undermines community cooperation with police and public safety, city leaders said.

The District could face push back from federal officials or Congress, which oversees the city budget, but local civil rights activists said the tough stance should be applauded. ACLU Director Johnny Barnes said the action bolsters a recent move by Mayor Vincent Gray to reassert the city's hands-off approach.

The council will hold a hearing on the immigration bill to hear from police and other interested groups.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local ... 31293.html

New D.C. bill cuts time frame for detaining illegals

By Tom Howell Jr.The Washington TimesTuesday, November 15, 2011


The D.C. Council introduced a bill Tuesday that cuts in half the amount of time U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has to pick up illegal immigrants placed on a civil detainer.

The bill, co-introduced by all 13 members of the council, requires the federal government to pick up detainees within 24 hours and pay for the detainee’s incarceration.

It also stipulates the District will only hold ICE detainees who have been convicted of violent offenses.

Council member Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat, said the bill is aimed at growing distrust of the Secure Communities program, designed to join federal, state and local agencies in removing serious criminals not in the United States legally.

Critics question whether the program, in which localities share with ICE and the FBI the fingerprints of individuals booked into jails to determine their immigration status, meets the intended goal of removing dangerous aliens or potentially tears apart families by deporting nonviolent immigrants.

The council’s bill, the Immigration Detainer Compliance Amendment Act of 2011, emphasizes the District’s discretion in complying with ICE and is modeled after legislation adopted in cities such as Chicago and New York City, Mr. Mendelson said at Tuesday’s meeting of the Committee of the Whole.

Mr. Mendelson referred to a letter the council sent to the Department of Homeland Security in September, which emphasized the need to build trust with the immigrant community to effectively prevent or investigate crimes in the District.

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray signed an order last month that prohibits public-safety officers from asking people about their immigration status.

The executive order also directs officers in seven D.C. agencies not to arrest people based only on their immigration status.

City officials said the mayor’s order should not be viewed as a plan to opt out of Secure Communities, which is expected to be implemented nationwide by 2013.

Much like the council’s new effort, officials said the mayor’s policy highlights the city’s refusal to allow immigration status to affect police investigations when a resident, documented or not, is in need.

Council member Jim Graham, Ward 1 Democrat, has been an advocate of these measures on behalf of immigrant groups.

“What we are saying in this legislation is we want to maintain the bright line between what federal immigration officials do and what our local department does,â€