Thread: DHS to Hold Meeting on Secure Communities in Arlington

DHS to Hold Meeting on Secure Communities in Arlington

by ARLnow.com
August 22, 2011 at 1:41 pm

The Department of Homeland Security will be holding a public meeting in Arlington on the Secure Communities immigration enforcement program.

The meeting will take place between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 24, at George Mason University Founder’s Hall (3351 Fairfax Drive) in Virginia Square. The Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Task Force on Secure Communities is seeking public comments about the controversial program, which Arlington tried and failed to opt out of last year.

From a press release issued by Arlington County this morning:

Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Task Force on Secure Communities is making recommendations to the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on ways to improve the Secure Communities program, including ideas on how to best focus on individuals who pose a true public safety or national security threat. This panel is composed of chiefs of police, sheriffs, state and local prosecutors, court officials, ICE agents from the field, and community and immigration advocates. The advisory committee is considering proposals on how ICE may adjust the Secure Communities program to mitigate potential impacts on community policing practices, including whether special procedures should be adopted for ICE enforcement actions directed toward individuals charged with, but not convicted of, minor traffic offenses.

Anyone planning on attending the meeting is asked to RSVP via email to TFSC@dhs.gov. Attendees are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on making any comments to the task force.

http://www.arlnow.com/2011/08/22/dhs-to ... arlington/

Task Force on Secure Communities Membership List

Get a load who Is on this list

Chuck Wexler
Executive Director, Police Executive Research Forum (Chair, Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) member)

Monica Beamer
Representative, American Federation of Government Employees Local 511

Bo Cooper
Partner, Berry Appleman & Leiden L.L.P.

Christopher Crane
President of National Council 118, American Federation of Government Employees
Andrea Zuniga DiBitetto ~ Legislative Representative, AFL-CIO

Jeffrey Fagan
Professor of Law and Public Health, Columbia Law School

Adrian Garcia
Sheriff, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Texas

Douglas Gillespie
Sheriff, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

Robert Glaves
Executive Director, The Chicago Bar Foundation

Benjamin Johnson
Executive Director, American Immigration Council

Andrew Lauland
Homeland Security Advisory, Maryland

Laura Lichter
Partner, Lichter & Associates, P.C.

David Martin
Distinguished Professor of International Law, University of Virginia School of Law

Brittney Nystrom
Director of Policy and Legal Affairs, National Immigration Forum

Charles Ramsey
Police Commissioner, Philadelphia Police Department

Lupe Valdez
Sheriff, Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, Texas

Arturo Venegas, Jr.
Founder, Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative

Roberto Villaseñor
Chief of Police, Tucson Police Department, Arizona

Wendy Wayne
Director of the Immigration Impact Unit, Committee for Public Counsel Services

Sister Rosemary Welsh
Executive Director, Casa de Misericordia and Director, Mercy Ministries Outreach
Contact

The Task Force is receiving public comment at TFSC@dhs.gov.
http://www.dhs.gov/files/committees/tas ... rship.shtm

Send comments here:
homeland.security@mail.house.gov.
I see that a secure communities "task force" will be making a trip to Arlington? to discuss this subject ? The people on this list look like the who's who of Illegal alien supporters. Is this about making our communities safe from criminals,or Is this about making our communities SECURE FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ? Who gets to decide which people are "not a threat" to our society ? All of you ? Someone gets pulled over In a car for violating the law,and we are supposed to look the other way If we find out that they are Illegally In our country ? What happens when you begin to make decisions about non-violent verses violent Illegal aliens and a so called non-violent Illegal crashes Into a family of four while drunk and kills the whole family ? There should be NO EXCEPTIONS with regard to deportation Of people who are Illegally In this country. You are putting the AMERICAN PUBLIC at risk by making arbitrary decisions about Individuals that you know NOTHING about. Why do we have two sets of rules In regard to this Issue. One for Illegals,and another for LEGAL AMERICAN CITIZENS ? I have a feeling that this meeting Is nothing but a farce,and I have no doubt that nothing good will come out of this,and If anything we'll end up with communities that are LESS SECURE FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS ... Regretfully,

Will they cram the meeting room with illegals, just like Durbin did?

SEND YOUR COMMENTS

Looky what we have here!
http://www.facebook.com/homelandsecurity

DHS comment line! Please let them know how it's going!
Comment Line: 202-282-8495

Arlington opts out of 'Secure Communities' immigration enforcement program
Arlington became one of the first communities in the country to reject a national immigration enforcement program today when the County Board voted 5-0 against the county's participation in that program.

In a rare crowded afternoon meeting, County Board member Walter Tejada made the case for Arlington rejecting the "Secure Communities" program implemented by Virginia earlier this year. The program requires local law enforcement to forward fingerprints and other identification information of alleged offenders to federal immigration enforcement agencies.

The county will now notify Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Virginia State Police of "its intent to withdraw" from the program and meet with both agencies to determine exactly how that should be done. (Arlington just missed being the first to vote along these lines; the county of Santa Clara, Calif. voted to withdraw from the program earlier today, according to Tejada.)

When the board gave the final "ay," the room quickly filled with cheers and a standing ovation from audience members, many of them Latinos in bright orange t-shirts bearing the logos of the Tenants and Workers United and local construction unions.

Tejada and several local activist groups have been working on this issue since they found out Virginia opted into the Secure Communities program last spring.

It turned out to be quite difficult for Arlington County to find out whether they actually are allowed to opt out of the program. "ICE gives conflicting information," Tejada says. "We wanted clear information, 'can we opt out.'"

It took several months and a letter from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to get the final answer. Napolitano wrote that a local law enforcement agency could choose to opt out, but would still be responsible for reporting "suspected criminal aliens to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.

Tejada points out that he's not looking to shield felons and other criminals from legal action or deportation, but rather, he's looking to protect many others that have been swept up in the immigration reporting frenzy of Secure Communities. In addition he doesn't want immigrants in Arlington that are victims of or witnesses to a crime to be afraid to report it.

"We want to follow all the federal and state laws. But we can do that without creating this hostile sentiment and divisive environment," he says. "That's not Arlington."
http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-neighborho ... -2383.html

Arlington opts out of 'Secure Communities' immigration enforcement program

"And the crowd goes wild!"