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Old 05-06-2011, 01:54 PM
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Default Illinois, Defying DHS, Demands to Be Let out of Secure Communities

Illinois, Defying DHS, Demands to Be Let out of Secure Communities
Illinois doesn’t want its police officers acting as immigration agents for the federal government, and the fight between the state and the Department of Homeland Security is heating up quickly.
The Huffington Post reports that DHS officials today said Illinois’ participation in Secure Communities is mandatory. The announcement comes two days after Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced that his state would no longer be participating in the federal government’s fingerprint-sharing immigration enforcement program.
This afternoon the Illinois House also passed the Smart Enforcement Act by a wide, bipartisan margin. The bill would allow counties to choose whether or not they want to participate in Secure Communities and offer a cost analysis of the program’s impact to local law enforcement. Additionally, it would stipulate that localities could only use the program to identify and deport people who were actually convicted of crimes.
Secure Communities is a cornerstone of the Obama administration’s deportation agenda. More than 72,000 people were deported last year as a result of the federal program, which allows the Department of Homeland Security to peer into the databases of anyone who’s booked in a participating locality’s jails. People’s fingerprints are sent on to the federal government, whether or not they’re charged or even found guilty of any crime. In Illinois, 78 percent of people fell in this category, according to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
DHS, which once called the program voluntary, has since decided the program is not optional after a series of contradictory public statements and communications to states that tried to exercise their right to opt out. California Rep. Zoe Lofgren called for an investigation into the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and DHS Director John Morton for what she called out-right deception about the program’s implementation.
California’s got its own version of the Smart Enforcement Act, called the TRUST Act, which is making its way through the state’s legislature as well.
http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/...mmunities.html
Despite Quinn's withdrawal, Metro East sheriff committed to federal immigration program
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • The sheriff of Madison County intends to keep sharing arrest records with federal immigration authorities through the Secure Communities program, despite Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to formally sever all lines of communication.
"The bottom line is, I don't work for the governor of Illinois," said Sheriff Bob Hertz. He said Madison County jail would continue offering fingerprints and arrest records for federal authorities to cross-check with immigration records, as long as they are interested.
The governor announced Wednesday that he was pulling Illinois out of the federal deportation program designed to root out the 'worst of the worst,' because the program had swept up many illegal immigrants who had never been convicted of any crime.
Quinn's letter to the Department of Homeland Security noted "more 30 percent of those deported from the United States, under the program have never been convicted of any crime."
He requested that the partnerships between Metro East and Chicago county jails be terminated.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are looking for a way to keep lines of information open, though Quinn's order will make it harder to share. He suspended the role of the Illinois State Police, who act as a conduit between county authorities and federal officials.
In response to the order, ICE began "conducting a top to bottom statistical analysis of Secure Communities data to identify any irregularities that could indicate misconduct," according to a statement by spokeswoman Gillian Christensen.
Illinois is the first of the 42 involved to withdraw from the program, but criticism of Secure Communities has made headlines nationwide.
ICE wants to discuss concerns. Agency director John Morton traveled to Illinois today to meet with officials and discuss concerns.
Meanwhile, Springfield lawmakers are moved forward with legislation that places statutory limits on how much information is shared. Under the plan that passed the House today, Illinois State Police would only provide federal authorities with county jail data about individuals convicted of criminal offenses.
Changes in the role of the state police make no difference to operations in Madison County, Hertz said.
"If my microphone is yanked from me by someone else, I'm going to find a new way to speak to them," he said.
-The bill is HB920.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/g...9bb30f31a.html
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