Task Force Critical of Secure Communities Program
Saturday, September 17, 2011
A task force created to recommend improvements to a federal immigration program presented a critical report this week, saying the program, Secure Communities, has had an "adverse impact" on community policing and caused confusion at the state and local level.
"To the extent that Secure Communities may damage community policing, the result can be greater levels of crime," the report said. "If residents do not trust their local police, they are less willing to step forward as witnesses to or victims of crime."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, rolled out the Secure Communities program in October 2008. It aimed at removing serious criminal offenders from the country. But data showed that low level offenders, as well as those without criminal convictions, were getting caught up in the program.
Most significantly, the Task Force on Secure Communities recommended ICE not pursue individuals, identified through Secure Communities, for arrests based on minor traffic offenses, and ensure that victims of domestic violence, as well as victims of crime or witnesses, who come to the agency’s attention through the program, are protected.
The released report stated that “several Task Force members noted that whether the program is mandatory is subject to different interpretations” of the law.
In June, Governor Andrew Cuomo withdrew New York from Secure Communities after "mounting evidence" showed that it failed its stated goal of deporting serious felons. Illinois and Massachusetts also pulled out of the program.
The task force also suggested that ICE use prosecutorial discretion more widely so it can focus on the original aim of the program — removing those who have been convicted of crimes or pose a security risk.
Since the program was put in place, there has been much confusion over whether state and local jurisdictions have the right to decline or suspend participation in Secure Communities. Originally, ICE said they had the right to do so, but afterward backtracked on that statement.
Final clarification came in August, when DHS unilaterally terminated all of the previously signed Memorandum of Agreements with the states participating in the program. The agreements were initially entered into to encourage voluntary participation in the program.
DHS said that state and local jurisdictions could not terminate their participation in Secure Communities because it is essentially an information-sharing program between two federal agencies: the FBI and DHS.
That means the fingerprints local law enforcement agencies submit to the FBI for routine criminal history checks will also be shared with DHS and checked against immigration databases. If ICE decides an arrested individual is of interest, the agency determines what enforcement action to take.
DHS plans nationwide activation of Secure Communities by 2013.
Lack of Unity Among Task Force Members
There were clear divisions within the Task Force, which became obvious as five members resigned before the report was made public.
"Throughout the process, it became clear our perspectives and recommendations were not going to be acknowledged," three members who represented labor unions wrote in a letter to the task force’s chairman, Chuck Wexler. "The final report demonstrates a clear absence of our voice. It is not an accurate reflection of the matters of concern that we raised on behalf of the workers we represent or their communities."
Another member who resigned, former police chief of Sacramento Arturo Venegas Jr., said the report did not go "far enough."
"If we had made a recommendation that this program needs to go back to its original intent, I would have been happy with that," he said. "The conclusion that I came to is that even with the present recommendation deportations of misdemeanors and low-level offenders will still continue."
Wexler said that while he could not address the specific reasons that led to resignations, members who resigned did so because, "if they couldn’t get exactly what they wanted, then they weren’t gonna be part of it."
He added the task force had been exposed to great pressure, with 150 immigration groups sending them requests to resign from their positions. Because opinions of members varied so significantly, Wexler said, "it had to be give-and-take to produce a report that would be useful"
In its final conclusion, the report said half of the members were in favor of the Secure Communities program suspension, while the other half thought the program should be continued after changes are implemented.
Matt Chandler, DHS spokesman, said ICE Director John Morton has invited members of the task force who resigned to also "meet with him and discuss their concerns."
The Task Force on Secure Communities was created in June, with 20 local and state law enforcement and homeland security officials, immigration attorneys, labor union officials, academics and others as its members.
Comments [2]
In 2012 the Tea Party leaders can alter this mess this country is in but you must decide where you stand. If you are under the impression it doesn't impinge on the workplace, you are utterly mistaken. Every day American workers from the lowest income, with limited education and even higher individuals on the career ladder, are being "Pink Slipped" so business owners can replace them with either illegal workers or semi-skilled workers. These persons enter America with visas, fraudulently gained from dishonest attorneys and the recruited by middle man who go to foreign nations. These recruiters are looking for recipients who they can hire for less wages, no health care or benefits. Lower wage earners of every race are not the first to feel this abuse in America, as it carries a wide spectrum of occupations from janitorial staff, factory workers to management positions.
A good start to stop this unjust antagonism is Lamar Smith's Rep. Lamar Smith R-TX) "The Legal Workforce Act" (H.R. 2885) would achieve a powerful deterrent against dishonest business owners, who will feel the full prosecution of the law. Just type into Google any of these keywords and then understand the consequences of hiring illegal aliens. If illegal nationals are skewered from stealing jobs from Americans, then there is no magnet to draw them from other countries or from across our borders. Every new tool will assist ICE in clearing out millions of foreign nationals, including the E-Verification for businesses; Secure Communities, determining who a person has been apprehended by local police; 287 G, a Training program on immigration regulations and the complete double border fence construction as planned by the Bush 2006 Secure Fence Act.
So why are the open borders scared of Chairman Smith’s bill, with his main sponsor Peter King (R-NY)? Because they realize it will take away their leverage for the passage of another disastrous amnesty which has plagued us like the one in 1986. CHAIN MIGRATION was the culmination of the Ronald Reagan Amnesty, pouring millions of family members into our country.
This Congresswomen opening statement on Thursday, Linda Sanchez described E-Verify as broken. "The system is riddled with errors and doesn't work. It doesn't flag the workers it's supposed to flag, and it snags too many citizens and legal workers in its net. The job market is tough enough. It makes no sense for Congress to pass a law that makes it more difficult for legal workers to find work." This er, Lady doesn't explain that potential hires who are flagged, have the capability to straighten their immigration status out by stopping-off at the local Social Security office.
Don’t blame your job lose on anybody but yourself, as most people fail to speak-up and remain silent on the most controversial issues. The politicians bank on this, which you are to embarrass to go the whole yard in calling them out. Whether its federal or state lawmakers, it’s your right as a citizen or legal resident to oppose any new law or otherwise amend a bill, going from conference to be read in the Congress. In most circumstances you will only reach an aid, which screens for the representative you seek. However, you are a potential vote and even though they have the power, you can make a very big difference. Of all the controversial issues facing this country, illegal immigration has become a front burner problem--because it affects us all--it affects our taxes, our schools, health care and even the prison system in mass.
It's unbelievable that opponents to Lamar Smiths nationwide E-Verify would stoop to lying and rhetoric, implying that the TEA PARTY is against this urgent immigration business enforcement program. The TEA PARTY is thousands of groups, around the country and all have their principles based on liberty from a overwhelming government. This Tea Party in particular doesn’t speak for the whole. The TEA PARTY NATION is a small snippet of millions of ordinary people and certainly doesn't speak for every member. They have their right to free speech and offer their opinion, but they don't have my vote or voice of millions more members. Join a TEA PARTY near you and make you vote count, if you legally came to this country. Only open border organizations, businesses, farmers, radical groups have an agenda of their own--but mostly profits and exploitation.
Tell me—are the American taxpayers going to be forced to subsidize every—ECONOMIC--foreigner who slips past the border, or fools an immigration agent at an airport terminal? Isn’t it the function of a government to protect its population? According to the Heritage Foundation taxpayers are being scammed, paying out at least $113 billion dollars annually—billions more are leaving the country through wire transfers, to foreign banks. This will never end until American taxpayers oppose it in Washington. Every state is a cornucopia of welfare recipients with the instant Americanization of babies brought to this nation. Our own countryman can only get food stamps—illegal aliens receive free health care for themselves for the whole family and once again the taxpayers are squeezed for every dollar.
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