Thread: Tarr's, others' Secure Communities call too late

August 30, 2011

Tarr's, others' Secure Communities call too late

Feds have shut off access to crime program

Wire and Staff Reports

BOSTON — Reacting to the recent arrest and arraignment of an illegal immigrant on a vehicular homicide charge, legislative Republicans — including Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester — have ripped the Patrick administration's immigration policies and announced a bill they said would force him to join federal efforts to crack down on undocumented immigrants.

There's just one problem: The federal government is no longer asking states to sign up.

Several weeks ago, federal immigration authorities rescinded all agreements with states and announced plans to unilaterally implement Secure Communities — a fingerprint-sharing program with the FBI — negating the need for states to enlist.

In addition, the Patrick administration insists it already shares its fingerprint information with the FBI, effectively participating in Secure Communities. The administration also shares with the FBI fingerprint information it receives from cities and towns across the state.

Senior administration public safety officials told the State House News Service that, by state law, all cities and towns are required to share fingerprints with the state from anyone arrested in connection with a suspected felony. In addition, a number of communities voluntarily provide additional fingerprint information.

"Just about everybody shares our fingerprints with the FBI," said Wayne Sampson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association. "Everybody does in one sense or the other, but practically every single department does on a daily basis. For most of us, it's sent in automatically."

Despite relying on what appears to be an outdated premise, Republicans fired off an announcement ripping the Patrick administration for refusing to join Secure Communities and suggesting that the governor's actions cost the life of a Milford resident, Matthew Denice, 23, who was killed earlier this month, allegedly at the hands of a drunken-driving illegal immigrant.

Republicans have backtracked since last week, focusing now on the idea that they'd like to see governor show more support for the Secure Communities concepts, noably the sharing of fingerprint and other law enforcement tools.

But the Republicans' initial announcement, which contained quotes from four legislative Republicans — including Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester — included a series of suggestions that Patrick should "join" Secure Communities, an impossibility under the current framework.

"We ought to be giving the people who are charged with protecting us the proper tools, and we are calling on Governor Patrick to do just that by partnering with the Obama Administration and joining the Secure Communities program," Tarr had said in a prepared statement issued last week.

Secure Communities has been billed as a program in which the FBI, which routinely collects fingerprint information from state and local police departments, shares that information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an effort to root out illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes. But it has also sparked waves of protest among immigrant advocates and officials from certain states, who say it promotes profiling and has often been used to target lower-level offenders.

The administration said it supports ICE's efforts to deport undocumented immigrants who commit felonies.

"Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the victim of this terrible crime. The focus now is on prosecuting the person responsible and ensuring that justice is served. We will provide whatever assistance is required to get that done," said Alex Goldstein, a spokesman for Patrick. "The governor's policy is that serious criminals who are here illegally should be deported. Massachusetts has and will continue to send fingerprints to the federal government, and the Massachusetts Department of Correction will continue to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to facilitate removal of undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of felonies in the commonwealth."

In an Aug. 5 letter to Patrick, ICE Director John Morton informed the administration that it would no longer accept agreements with states to enter the program. Instead, the agency determined that because it involves information-sharing between two federal agencies, they don't need state participation to implement the program. The program is expected to be fully implemented by 2013.

The letter clarified what had been months of confusion within states about whether the program was voluntary or mandatory. Prior to ICE's clarification, Patrick had wavered over plans to join Secure Communities, suggesting during last year's re-election campaign that he was still reviewing the program.

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x1 ... l-too-late