Thread: Resistance grows to jailhouse immigration checks

Resistance grows to jailhouse immigration checks

May 11th, 2011, 2:24 pm
by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter

Resistance is growing from some local, state and federal officials over the Secure Communities initiative, in which local jails share inmate fingerprints with immigration officials and detain for deportation those singled out by federal authorities, according to a California Watch story.

The initiative is designed to identify dangerous criminal aliens, but there are growing complaints that non-criminal immigrants are being caught in the web and that illegal immigrants, fearful of deportation, are less likely to cooperate with law enforcement.

All 58 counties in California have agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to participate in the program – as do all jails in Orange County. But San Francisco County Sheriff Michael Hennessey has announced that, as of June, his jail will stop holding suspected illegal immigrants arrested for low-level offenses.

A bill in the state Assembly calls for the state sever its agreement with ICE, and a similar measure is being considered in Illinois.

Additionally, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has asked President Barack Obama to freeze the program.

In Illinois, ICE data shows that 46 percent of those booked into federal custody through Secure Communities had never been convicted of a crime, according to California Watch.

In Orange County, there have been 7,563 illegal immigrants identified among arrestees over the past two years, 40 percent of whom were “Level 1″ criminals – that is, convicted of a violent or major crime. Another 21 percent had no previous convictions.

Of the state’s 12 counties that identified the highest number of illegal immigrant arrestees, five had more with no criminal record than Level 1 criminals, according to California Watch.

http://totalbuzz.ocregister.com/2011/05 ... cks/52939/

More agencies challenge immigration fingerprint checks

May 11, 2011 | Ryan Gabrielson
dem10/istockphoto.com

Officials in California and beyond have begun to rebel against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security program that mandates jailhouse immigration fingerprint checks.

All 58 of the state’s counties are operating as part the “Secure Communitiesâ€