Looks like it's working, so they're trying to stop it. Gotta love San Fran.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ―

Elected officials joined immigrants Thursday to demand that San Francisco be permitted to pull out of an enforcement program that automatically sends fingerprints of detained immigrants to federal officials.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano and members of the county Board of Supervisors spoke out against the effort known as Secure Communities then walked to the office of state Attorney General Jerry Brow to request that San Francisco be exempted from participating.

"We have a long history of protecting the rights of the disenfranchised in this city," Ammiano said.

A call to Brown for comment was not immediately answered.

Under the federal program, which has been implemented in 481 jurisdictions in 27 states, the fingerprints of detained immigrants are checked against FBI and Department of Homeland Security records to determine if people are in the country illegally and have previous arrest records.

Secure Communities was started in San Francisco in June. It's expected to expand to the entire nation by 2013.

In the first three weeks, 1,557 fingerprints were submitted from San Francisco County, ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley said.

Of those, 129 were deemed potentially deportable, including 33 individuals with prior convictions for serious crimes. So far, one of those people has been deported.

Haley said the program is working well.

"Our goal is prioritizing — focusing on those leve-one offenders," she said.

Among the individuals identified by the program in San Francisco was a man with 12 convictions, including theft and drug possession, and another man convicted of spousal abuse and drug charges.

Opponents of Secure Communities, including San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey, have pointed out that under the local "Sanctuary City" ordinance, convicted felons are routinely turned over to federal immigration officials.

Secure Communities can lead to the deportation of immigrants who have not yet had their day in court or were arrested for misdemeanors, said Eileen Hirst, the sheriff's chief of staff.

"Instead of concentrating on just dangerous felons who may be in the country illegally, ICE is now casting a large net and scooping up minor offenders as well," Hirst said.

In May, Hennessey requested that Brown exempt San Francisco from Secure Communities. Brown, who is running for governor, declined, saying the program serves both public safety and the interest of justice.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors also passed a resolution repudiating the program.

Opponents said Secure Communities conflicted with the "Sanctuary City" ordinance, which says only illegal immigrants convicted of felonies would be handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

They also worry that Secure Communities would make it harder for law enforcement to work closely with immigrants.

http://cbs5.com/local/immigration.check ... 32856.html