Police say ICE program has merit

By Kendall Hatch/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News
Posted Jun 09, 2011 @ 12:03 AM

In the days since Gov. Deval Patrick decided he wouldn't sign a memorandum of understanding accepting the Secure Communities Act, local police chiefs say the program has its benefits and could be an effective way to deal with dangerous illegal immigrants.

Patrick this week refused to give the go-ahead for Massachusetts to participate in the program. In a letter to the federal Department of Homeland Security, state Public Safety Secretary Mary Beth Heffernan said enforcing federal immigration regulations should be left to federal agencies.

Milford Police Chief Thomas O'Loughlin said he supports a statewide expansion of the program, arguing that only dangerous illegal immigrants would face deportation.

"The program focuses on people who have committed serious offenses - criminal offenses," he said. "It focuses on those who bring harm to others."

O'Loughlin said he thinks it is important that each person arrested be subject to the program; that would reduce the perception of profiling. He also said it won't force his staff to act as immigration officers and won't take up extra resources.

Another benefit, O'Loughlin said, is that local police would see information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that wouldn't be available otherwise. For instance, if an arrested person has a criminal record under an alias known to ICE, a local department would be privy to that information, said O'Loughlin.

Framingham Police Chief Steven Carl said he didn't have any direct comment on the governor's decision to opt out of Secure Communities, though late last year he said the federal program could be helpful if run properly.

In a presentation to the selectmen, Carl identified several benefits to the program, including reducing possibilities of racial-profiling allegations, the availability of more detailed information on dangerous illegal immigrants and the commitment from ICE to issue detainers 24 hours a day.

Carl also noted a few drawbacks. He said misinformation could promote mistrust between immigrant populations and the police force and that there is a possibility of non-criminal immigrants being deported.

He worried it could reduce the number of crimes reported to police, especially those involving violence against women. He said it could also cultivate a perception that local officers are enforcing federal immigration laws.

The Boston Globe reported this week that a Homeland Security official, who wished not to be named, said Patrick's rejection of the program would do little to stop Secure Communities from going statewide by 2013.

Patrick spokesman Alex Goldstein said the governor realizes the program might still come to Massachusetts, but stood by his decision.

"Gov. Patrick has been clear that enforcement of federal immigration laws is the responsibility of the federal government," Goldstein said in a statement. "As such, the Department of Homeland Security may decide to move forward with the Secure Communities program without a memorandum of agreement with Massachusetts. The governor has made his own concerns about this program clear with the public and with the Department of Homeland Security."

(Kendall Hatch can be reached at 508-626-4429 or khatch@wickedlocal.com.)

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