Thread: Secure Communities program to be activated next week in Vermont

Secure Communities program to be activated next week in Vermont; begins today in Mass.

Federal immigration officials will activate the Secure Communities program statewide in Vermont next Tuesday, leaving Maine as the only state in the nation that has not yet launched the fingerprinting program, according to a federal law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the program.

Maine is expected to follow soon afterward, the official said, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the program.

The news came after officials announced that the program was being activated today in Massachusetts.

The agency decided to activate the program here despite longstanding opposition from Governor Deval Patrick and advocates, the Globe reported last week. Patrick has objected to the program on grounds that it nets many immigrants with no criminal convictions.

Secure Communities allows federal immigration officials to tap into the longstanding tradition of information-sharing between local law enforcement and the FBI. Local police routinely send the fingerprints of people they arrest to the FBI for criminal background checks. Now, through Secure Communities, the FBI will share those fingerprints with immigration officials to identify illegal immigrants for deportation, especially criminals and repeat violators of federal immigration law.

The federal agency decided to expand the program to cover all of Massachusetts (Boston had been participating since 2006) after intensive lobbying by politicians and local law enforcement. The decision also followed a string of highly publicized motor vehicle accidents involving illegal immigrants.

Secure Communities program to be activated next week in Vermont; begins today in Mass. - Metro Desk - Local news updates from The Boston Globe

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http://www.alipac.us/f12/vermont-now...nities-257944/