D.C. Passes Bill To Restrict Secure Communities Immigration Enforcement Program

WASHINGTON -- As groups around the country rally this week against the Secure Communities immigration enforcement program, the District of Columbia approved its own measure on Tuesday to fight back. In a unanimous vote, the D.C. Council approved a bill that will limit the ability of the federal government to enforce immigration laws by restricting the circumstances in which individuals can be held in the custody of local law enforcement at the request of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The nation's capital joined a handful of cities across the country that are taking a stand against the spate of immigration enforcement measures seen in states like Arizona, where local police are now required to ask people who they suspect of being in the country illegally for their documents, during actions as routine as traffic stops.

"We want to be the anti-Arizona," Sarahi Uribe, a D.C.-based organizer for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, told The Huffington Post. "Our entire campaign to get cities to break ties with federal immigration enforcement is an effort to be the opposite of Arizona."

What are the Flaws of the Secure Communities Program? Who Is Deporting Who and Why?

As initially proposed, the Secure Communities Program should have worked. During these times of War, our Law Enforcement groups within Federal, State and Local communities should work together and they should search out and find dangerous and felonious criminals. They should utilize technology to help them to this end. The program should have been implemented flawlessly, with a focus on targeting felonious criminals. It was not. It was developed and introduced during the Bush Administration, broad-brush, with the focus of using technology for Deportation.

I’m a bit curious about the intent of the developers of the program. Were they taking into consideration the political agendas of the many local law enforcement agencies with “right wing” perspectives? Did they consider the potential for racial profiling? Did they consider the cost of the mandatory 48 hour holds and who would pay for these costs? Did they take into consideration the inaccuracies of IAFIS and the impact of misidentifying innocent (primarily Latino) citizens of wrong doing resulting in wrongful incarcerations? Did they plan for the expansion of costly private prisons?

It appears they did not effectively prioritize the program to focus on Felonious Criminals. Instead, the program has resulted in a very costly program with the end objective of Mass Deportation of all Undocumented Immigrants while Racially Profiling a high rate of innocent Latino Citizens.

In the summer of 2011, the President attempted to make corrections. He attempted to reprioritize the program to focus on Felonious Criminals. His efforts are facing extreme resistance by the Republican Party. The Republican base, particularly the Tea Party advocates, are pushing for Mass (voluntary) Deportation of the 11M here and they are using “Secure Communities” as their method of accomplishing their goals, all under the cover of protecting our country from terrorists. Their colleagues in various Hate Groups are demanding “Attrition through Enforcement.” Kris Kobach from the hate group FAIR and author of sb1070 is a surrogate for Mitt Romney. He has been a key spokesperson for stronger deportation measures. He is the author of many of the Anti Immigration Reform bills currently being advanced at the State level, in Republican governor states.

The problems with the “Secure Communities” program are primarily the fault of Republicans. Although some of the blame falls on the Obama Administration. They were too trustful in believing they could correct the abuses of the program with a statement, letter or ruling. They have been too slow in stopping the most abusive, corrupt sheriff in the History of America. Arpaio's racial profiling has continued. Congress has not moved forward in pushing Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

I am a strong supporter of our President and I do believe there are solutions to these problems. My recommendations to our President and his Administration in his 2nd term are as follows:

1. Indict Joe Arpaio. You have the evidence. Do it now, not only because he should be held responsible for all of his abuses, but his indictment will serve as a symbol to all abusers of power who blatantly racially profile. They too will be held accountable for their crimes.

2. Strengthen and Fine Tune/Streamline “Secure Communities” and change the name to “Secure America.” We all want the program to identify and deport dangerous felonious criminals. Work with local law enforcement to focus on Felonious Criminals (L1s) only. You will save Billions by streamlining the program plus you will speed up the process of deporting the Felonious criminals. Get a top 100 list – 2 decks of cards. Find them. Deport them. You would do more to protect America by chasing after the criminals and NOT the workers or the students. All of these saving will allow you to foot the bill for the holding of these felonious criminals.

3. Include America in on the conversation. Talk about Arpaio, the racial profiling, the Felonious Criminals, the costs – with no one willing to pay. You will get an argument from Republicans, but it is time to talk about it. We will help you. We will also ask the same questions to Republicans, to Romney. We will ask him “Do you support Racial Profiling?” “Do you support Arpaio’s abuses?” “Do you support Mass Deportation?”

Mr. President, we Latino Americans can help you in metamorphasizing this program to improve Security across America, significantly reduce costs and put an end to Racial Profiling. In your second term, we will not only support you but we expect you will pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform and hold racial profilers accountable for their actions.

Why Deportation Rates have Increased – Understanding the “Secure Communities” Program

Over recent months I have noticed a great deal of chatter regarding the rate of Deportations in the U.S. under the Obama Administration. Various ICE reports confirm that 2009 and 2010 had the highest rate of Deportations in history. Some pundits are attempting to blame the President for this increase. I decided I wanted to find out the reasons for the increases. I studied ICE Reports and various programs so I could understand the root cause(s) for these increases. These in-depth studies have helped me understand the cause and develop recommendations detailing our (Latino Voters) approach for moving forward in this election year.

Starting today and over the next few days I am going to share the results of my findings.

Here are the subjects I will be covering:
1. Why Deportation Rates have Increased – Understanding the “Secure Communities” Program
2. What are the Flaws of the Secure Communities Program? Who Is Deporting Who and Why?
3. Keeping Secure Communities however Changing Key Aspects and the Politics of Change
4. What Questions should We Latino Voters be asking in the weeks and months ahead


Today’s Report: Why Deportation Rates have Increased – Understanding the “Secure Communities” Program


The Department of Homeland Security’s “Yearbook of Immigration Statistics” prove the deployment of a Homeland Security/ICE Program, “Secure Communities,” has resulted in a significant increase in the rate of Deportations of “Illegal Immigrants” starting in 2009.


When was the “Secure Communities” Program started and for what Purpose: In 2005, during the Bush Administration, the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), Dept. of Justice (DOJ) and the Dept of State (DOS) collaborated to define a plan to integrate the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) and the Integrated Automated Fingerprinting System (IAFIS). Their plan was designed as a technological means to PROTECT the U.S. from further terror attacks.
In 2008, still under Bush’s term, this concept, the “Secure Communities” program, was initially rolled out. The program was established as a partnership between Federal, State and Local LAW ENFORCEMENT. The Goal of the Program is to Game Change the Law Enforcement process through Integration of Law Enforcement and Integrated Technology.


The Program Concept: Through the use of integrated technology, focus resources upon identifying and removing the most serious criminal offenders, first and foremost.

The Program Process: Fingerprints of those detained by local law enforcement are processed through the integrated IDENT(DHS)/IAFIS(DOJ-FBI) databases.

The plan, as designed, should help focus on removing dangerous, felonious criminals -- those that would never receive citizenship. However, for a number of reasons, this is not what happened. In the next blog on this subject, we'll discuss the Flaws of the program.

Why does the President Persist in Pushing Forward "Right of Center" Policies, Slapping Latino Americans in the Face, Once Again!

As my long time viewers know, I have supported our President throughout his Presidency. Many of my fellow bloggers have been very concerned by the President's lack of support for passing Immigration Reform legislation, no progress on the Dream Act and for the increased number of ICE Deportations. Eric Holder has made no progress on the Joe Arpaio investigation. And now, the Department of Homeland Security has said it will move ahead with its controversial Secure Communities immigration enforcement program, even if states do not agree to participate. This means even MORE ICE Deportations.
I disagree with this bill. President Obama continues to stand to the right of center, pleading for the Independen­t Vote. He believes the Latinos will vote for him regardless of Racial Profiling policies like this. In President Obama's quest/obse­ssion for winning over the Center, he will have a TOUGH TIME holding on to his base!
I plead with the President: Why do you persist in pushing forward right of Center policy, slapping Latino Americans in the face? Do you really think we will continue to stand with you and vote for you if you continue doing this?
You have done NOTHING, NOTHING to support Immigratio­n Reform.
You have NOT even made an inch of progress with the Dream Act.
How can you slap us in the face like this? How can you push these Racial Profiling policies?
We need a response. A slap like this will not bring out any votes! I ask the Democratic Committee to give us OPTIONS in 2012. If President Obama continues to push right of center policies, PLEASE, Give us Hillary as an Option! I can tell you where OUR Votes will go!
HP Reports: Secure Communities Agreements Canceled, Participation Still Required
WASHINGTON -- Activists are outraged over a Friday announcement from the Department of Homeland Security that it will move ahead with its controversial Secure Communities immigration enforcement program, even if states do not agree to participate.
"Today’s announcement confirms [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]’s status as a rogue agency," Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer's Organizing Network and a vocal critic of Secure Communities, said in a statement. "The recent actions constitute a crisis not only for our civil rights but our democracy as a whole. Governments cannot rule by decree."
The government faces a backlash over Secure Communities, a program that allows federal authorities to screen fingerprints of those arrested by local police in order to detect undocumented immigrants. Critics say the program nets large numbers of non-criminal undocumented immigrants and takes focus away from the primary targets of immigration enforcement, violent offenders.