Interior Enforcement
As Chicago Passes Anti-Detainer Ordinance, TRUST Act Awaits Signature in California
Lost amongst media coverage of the ongoing teachers’ strike was the passage in Chicago last week of a historic measure that largely prohibits local police from detaining individuals on behalf of federal immigration authorities. Dubbed the “Welcoming City Ordinance,” the measure makes Chicago the latest jurisdiction to push back against immigration “detainers,” the lynchpin of the controversial Secure Communities program. Read More
Inspector General Finds Serious Problems with US-VISIT Program
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released results of their investigation into the US-VISIT program. US-VISIT was created after 9/11 to track noncitizens’ entries into and exits from the U.S. to identify national security threats, individuals entering with fraudulent identities, and visa overstays. Through US-VISIT, fingerprints and digital photographs are taken of all noncitizens entering the U.S. and matched to biographical information. The exit portion of US-VISIT has never been fully implemented. Read More
Busting Myths About the California TRUST Act
As we reported last week, the TRUST Act—a bill that would prevent local law enforcement agencies from honoring all requests to detain immigrants on the federal government’s behalf—has cleared the California state legislature and is awaiting the signature of state Governor Jerry Brown. Meanwhile, restrictionists and other proponents of Arizona-style immigration laws have begun mounting a media campaign seeking to discredit the common-sense piece of legislation. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the primary claims of the TRUST Act’s opponents simply don’t stand up to scrutiny. Read More
California TRUST Act Awaits Governor’s Signature
The California TRUST Act (AB 1081) has now passed both houses of the state’s legislature and is awaiting Governor Jerry Brown’s signature. Passage of the TRUST Act would be an important step toward mitigating the harmful impact of the Secure Communities Program (S-Comm). Immigrant advocates from across the country are calling on Gov. Brown to sign the bill into law. Read More
What the Show Me State Shows Us About Immigration
According to data released by the Immigration Policy Center, there are approximately 6,500 young people in Missouri who may benefit from President Obama’s plan to grant deferred action to DREAM eligible youth. This isn’t a huge amount in the grand scheme of things, as Missouri ranks 31st in the country with respect to the number of youth eligible for this new program. And because these numbers roughly parallel distribution of undocumented people around the country, if you are going solely by the numbers, Missouri shouldn’t be a big player in the debate over immigration, especially unauthorized immigration. But the numbers don’t tell the full story when it comes to the importance of the issue to the people of a state, and the importance of a state to the way the immigration debate plays out nationally. Looking at it from other perspectives, Missouri matters a lot. Read More
Restrictionists Misrepresent Data on Immigration Enforcement
Some members of Congress are intent on portraying the Obama administration as “weak” on immigration enforcement, and they aren’t going to let facts get in their way. Yesterday, for example, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released new data on individuals who had been identified through Secure Communities (S-Comm) but against whom ICE had not taken enforcement action. House Judiciary Chair Lamar Smith characterized the data as proof that the Obama administration has used prosecutorial discretion “recklessly and to the detriment of the American people.” However, a close look at the data reveals that Smith’s sweeping allegations do not hold water. By misusing terms like “recidivism,” and by failing to distinguish between arrests and convictions, Smith intends to paint immigrants as criminals—a link that has been disproven over and over again. Read More
In California, TRUST Act One Step Closer to Becoming Law
The California state Senate overwhelmingly approved the TRUST Act on Thursday, marking a significant step for a piece of legislation aimed at limiting the humanitarian impact of the Secure Communities program. The bill must still pass the state Assembly and be signed by Gov. Jerry Brown to become law, but its success thus far represents an important victory for the immigrants rights movement and has positioned California as the “anti-Arizona” among states frustrated with Washington’s failure to enact comprehensive immigration reform. Read More
DC Passes Act Limiting District’s Response to ICE’s Immigration Detainers
Today, ICE activated the Secure Communities program in Washington, DC, sparking fear in immigrant communities that the program will result in racial profiling and the deportation of non-priority immigrants as it has in other jurisdictions. With Secure Communities active, the fingerprints of all persons booked into DC jails will be sent to the FBI and will then be forwarded to DHS to be checked against federal immigration databases. If ICE decides to take action against an immigrant identified through the program, they place a detainer on the individual—a request asking DC police to hold the person for up to 48 hours so ICE can take custody. However, in a move praised by immigration advocates, the DC Council passed an emergency act today limiting the District’s response to detainer requests. Read More
In California, Lawmakers Mount New Challenge to Secure Communities
Last year, lawmakers in California were poised to pass a bill—known as the TRUST Act—to let local jurisdictions opt out of Secure Communities, the federal program that routes fingerprints taken at local jails to federal immigration authorities. Before final passage, however, federal officials rendered the bill moot by declaring that participation in the program was mandatory. Now, lawmakers are considering a revised version of the bill that would minimize the impact of Secure Communities by limiting the ability of local governments to detain immigrants on the federal government’s behalf. Read More
In Heart of Texas, Sheriff Takes Heat for Honoring Immigration Detainers
A local election in Travis County, Texas, is bringing to light important questions surrounding the controversial Secure Communities program. As recently reported by the Texas Tribune, Democratic primary challenger John Sisson has criticized incumbent Sheriff Greg Hamilton for honoring federal immigration “detainers”—the lynchpin of Secure Communities—because of their harm to immigrant communities. While Hamilton has said he is bound by federal law, contrary policies in jurisdictions around the country show the sheriff is either misinformed or confused. Read More
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