Moore: It's time for Massachusetts to join the Secure Communities program

By Staff reports
Milford Daily News
Posted Mar 19, 2011 @ 12:01 AM


BOSTON — State Sen. Richard T. Moore, who is head of a national state legislative organization, yesterday called on the governor to join the "Secure Communities" program "immediately" as a way to crack down on illegal immigrants in the United States who commit crimes.

Moore, Dem-Uxbridge, said in a press release that as president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, he recently met with John Morton, director of the Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to discuss his upcoming address to NCSL's spring forum next month. In that meeting, Moore said Morton noted that Massachusetts was one of only eight states that have not joined the Secure Communities program and "he agreed to my request to arrange a briefing for law enforcement in and around my district to help them understand the program that becomes a national practice in two years."

The program is run by ICE, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security.

"As I understand it, the Secure Communities program improves public safety on a daily basis by transforming the way criminal aliens are identified and removed from the United States," Moore said in a release.

The program uses existing information-sharing technology between Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to "quickly and accurately identify aliens who are arrested for a crime and booked into local law enforcement custody."

Local police transmit fingerprints of everyone arrested and those prints are checked against FBI criminal records and Homeland Security's immigration records. If the prints match Homeland Security records, ICE determines if immigration action is required, "considering the immigration status of the alien, the severity of the crime and the alien's criminal history," Moore said.

Late last year, Gov. Deval Patrick agreed to have Massachusetts join the Secure Communities program but suspended the decision until public hearings to explain the program were held and public input received.

"Today, I want to urge the governor to join the program as expeditiously as possible," Moore said.

He said that, as he understands it, "there is virtually no new cost for local or state" police to be in the program and local and state police aren't expected to enforce federal immigration law or actively hunt for illegal immigrants.

What would change if the state opts in to the program is that when criminal suspects are arrested, their fingerprints - which are routinely checked against FBI databases - will be checked against federal immigration databases as well.

Moore said, "While the Secure Communities program will enhance law enforcement efforts when serious crimes are committed by illegal aliens, it must be understood that the need for comprehensive immigration reform remains as urgent as ever. What is wrong with U.S. immigration law cannot be fixed at the state or local level; a thorough overhaul can only come from Washington."

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