In his January 25th executive order Pres. Trump reinstated the Secure Communities program allowing ICE to broaden their enforcement priorities. Since then ICE’s interior arrests of illegal aliens have reached 2014 levels before the Obama administration initiated the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), which limited ICE to only apprehending illegal aliens who committed felonies or multiple misdemeanors.
Harford County, Maryland Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler signed a 287(g) federal/local partnership agreement that will allow his deputies to screen for illegal aliens in the county’s jail who have committed crimes that threaten public safety or who otherwise threaten national security. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bureau had largely shelved the 287(g) Program in an effort to shield illegal aliens from deportation but the gambit also undermined the agency's policy of prioritizing criminal-alien deportations. The Harford County agreement is part of policy reversal meant to shore up the deportation of criminal aliens and save face.
The California Assembly cleared for Gov. Jerry Brown’s consideration a bill (AB 4) that would bar state and local police from holding illegal aliens for deportation under the federal Secure Communities program unless they have been convicted of certain crimes. The governor, who vetoed a similar measure last year, has until October 13th to sign or veto the measure.
ICE has begun phasing out 287(g) agreements, which delegate federal authority for immigration enforcement to state and local police. ICE informed law enforcement agencies in 24 states that 287(g) agreements originally set to expire around September 30 would be extended for 90 days while “under review.” Other agreements with later expiration dates will continue, but ICE can decide to terminate those at any time.
Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas), who also sits on the House Judiciary Committee that oversees immigration, told Newsmax yesterday that Pres. Obama's immigration enforcement policies endanger Americans. Rep. Poe spoke out after the Judiciary Committee released a report earlier this week that found that of all criminal illegal aliens that the Administration was made aware of between 2008 and 2011, 17% were arrested after committing another crime.
Illegal aliens who are picked up for minor offenses like driving without a license will no longer be picked by by Immigration and Customs and Enforcement officials under the DHS's Secure Communities program. The Obama Administration announced the new rule on Friday amid resistance from several illegal-alien-friendly states such as New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois.
The Minnesota State Senate passed a bill earlier today that would require the state to enter into the Department of Homeland Security's Secure Communities program. Under the program, local jails would send fingerprints of all individuals booked into local jails to DHS who would then check to see if the individual is in the country legally.
A bill passed by the Texas state Senate, SB 9, requires all Texas communities to join the Department of Homeland Security's program entitled Secure Communities. Secure Communities allows local law enforcement agencies to compare the fingerprints of arrested individuals with DHS data to determine if the individual is in the country illegally.
To the Editor:
“No Exit From a Bad Program” (editorial, Feb. 28) claims that the Secure Communities program is problematic because it results in the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants with little or no criminal record. Such a view is misguided and dangerous.
Secure Communities is the Department of Homeland Security’s comprehensive strategy to improve the identification and removal of criminal aliens from the United States.
Seven Members from the Georgia House delegation have sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement asking the agency to implement its Secure Communities program throughout the state. Under Secure Communities, fingerprints taken by local law enforcement agents under normal booking procedures are shared with the federal government who can then provide a criminal history along with immigration status.
Nearly a dozen North Texas law enforcement agencies have joined the federal "Secure Communities" program, allowing them access to federal criminal records and immigration records while taking suspects' fingerprints during bookings.
