More Protests Planned Against 'Secure Communities'

Saturday, October 23, 2010
By Kathleen Horan

Immigration advocates and local elected officials are keeping the pressure on Governor Paterson to withdraw New York from participating in 'Secure Communities,' a national program that would allow police to share fingerprint information with federal authorities.

Manhattan City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez, who represents upper Manhattan, said Secure Communities would force immigrants to live in fear, worrying that at any moment the could be detained and deported.

According to Rodriquez, "If the law gets into effect, anyone who gets fingerprinted -- immediately that information will be sent to the immigration."

Rodriguez and other opponents of the program will be protesting at noon Sunday on the steps of City Hall.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say the program was developed to identify undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes like murder, sexual assault and crimes that threaten national security. But immigrant advocates say in other states, the majority of those deported under Secure Communities were arrested for minor offenses or were not charged with any crime.

http://oneoldvet.com/

www.wnyc.org