Immigrant groups criticize fingerprint initiative

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100726/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_fingerprints

Immigrant groups criticize fingerprint initiative

By IVAN MORENO, Associated Press Writer Ivan Moreno, Associated Press Writer –

29 mins ago

DENVER – The federal government is rapidly expanding a program to identify

illegal immigrants using fingerprints from arrests, drawing opposition from

local authorities and advocates who argue the initiative amounts to an excessive

dragnet.

The program has gotten less attention than Arizona's new immigration law, but it

may end up having a bigger impact because of its potential to round up and

deport so many immigrants nationwide.

The San Francisco sheriff wanted nothing to do with the program, and the City

Council in Washington, D.C., blocked use of the fingerprint plan in the nation's

capital. Colorado is the latest to debate the program, called Secure

Communities, and immigrant groups have begun to speak up, telling the governor

in a letter last week that the initiative will make crime victims reluctant to

cooperate with police " due to fear of being drawn into the immigration regime. "

Under the program, the fingerprints of everyone who is booked into jail for any

crime are run against FBI criminal history records and Department of Homeland

Security immigration records to determine who is in the country illegally and

whether they've been arrested previously. Most jurisdictions are not included in

the program, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been expanding the

initiative.

Since 2007, 467 jurisdictions in 26 states have joined. ICE has said it plans to

have it in every jail in the country by 2013. Secure Communities is currently

being phased into the places where the government sees as having the greatest

need for it based on population estimates of illegal immigrants and crime

statistics.

Since everyone arrested would be screened, the program could easily deport more

people than Arizona's new law, said Sunita Patel, an attorney who filed a

lawsuit in New York against the federal government on behalf of a group worried

about the program. Patel said that because illegal immigrants could be referred

to ICE at the point of arrest, even before a conviction, the program can create

an incentive for profiling and create a pipeline to deport more people.

" It has the potential to revolutionize immigration enforcement, " said Patel.

Patel filed the lawsuit on behalf of the National Day Laborer Organizing

Network, which is concerned the program could soon come to New York. The lawsuit

seeks, among other things, statistical information about who has been deported

as a result of the program and what they were arrested for.

Supporters of the program argue it is helping identify dangerous criminals that

would otherwise go undetected. Since Oct. 27, 2008 through the end of May,

almost 2.6 million people have been screened with Secure Communities. Of those,

almost 35,000 were identified as illegal immigrants previously arrested or

convicted for the most serious crimes, including murder and rape, ICE said

Thursday. More than 205,000 who were identified as illegal immigrants had arrest

records for less serious crimes.

In Ohio, County Sheriff Rick praised program, which was implemented

in his jurisdiction earlier this month.

" It's really a heaven-sent for us, " said. He said the program helps solve

the problem police often have of not knowing whether someone they arrested has a

criminal history and is in the country illegally.

" I don't want them in my community, " said. " I've got enough homegrown

criminals here. "

Carl Rusnok, an ICE spokesman, said Secure Communities is a way for law

enforcement to identify illegal immigrants after their arrest at no additional

cost to local jurisdictions. agreed.

" We arrest these people anyway, " he said. " All it does is help us deport people

who shouldn't be here. "

Rusnok said ICE created the program after Congress directed the agency to

improve the way it identifies and deports illegal immigrants with criminal

backgrounds. ICE has gotten $550 million for the program since 2008, Rusnok

said.

Rusnok said the only place he knows of that has requested not to be a part of

Secure Communities is San Francisco, which began the program June 8. Eileen

Hirst, the chief of staff for San Francisco Sheriff Hennessey, said it

happened " without our input or approval. "

Hirst said the sheriff thought Secure Communities cast too wide a net and

worried that it would sweep up U.S. citizens and minor offenders, such as people

who commit traffic infractions but miss their court hearings. Hirst also said

the program goes against San Francisco's sanctuary city policy that calls for

authorities to only report foreign-born suspects booked for felonies.

" Now, we're reporting every single individual who comes into our custody and

gets fingerprinted, " Hirst said.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown denied Hennessey's request to opt out.

Brown said that prior to Secure Communities, illegal immigrants with criminal

histories were often released before their status was discovered.

This month, Washington, D.C., police decided not to pursue the program because

the City Council introduced a bill that would prohibit authorities from sharing

arrest data with ICE out of concern for immigrants' civil rights.

Bromeland, special assistant to the police chief, said police wanted the program

and were talking with ICE about how address concerns from immigrant advocates

before the bill forced them to halt negotiations.

Colorado officials became interested in the program after an illegal immigrant

from Guatemala with a long criminal record was accused of causing a car crash at

a suburban Denver ice-cream shop, killing two women in a truck and a 3-year-old

inside the store. Authorities say the illegal immigrant, Francis M. ,

stayed off ICE's radar because he conned police with 12 aliases and two

different dates of birth.

A task-force assembled after the crash recommended Secure Communities as a

solution.

Evan Dreyer, a spokesman for Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, said Ritter recognizes

that other states have had issues with the program and he wants to take time to

consider the concerns raised by immigrant rights groups before deciding " how or

if to move forward. "

The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition said in its letter to the governor that

the Secure Communities is " inherently flawed and should not be implemented. "

CIRC said one of its main concerns is that in cases of domestic violence, where

both parties may be taken into custody while authorities investigate a case,

victims may feel reluctant to report a crime out of fear that their illegal

status will be discovered.

ICE maintains that only suspects arrested for crimes — and not the people

reporting them — will be screened for their legal status.