One more nail in the ‘Secure Communities’ coffin

By Kirsten Bokenkamp Communications Coordinator The New York Times published an article today that explored yet another reason why the misnamed Secure Communities program is a bad idea - it has led to a number of American Citizens being detained and, in some cases, deported. The faulty Homeland Security database has somehow misidentified these U.S. citizens as being undocumented immigrants.  I guess in Texas, the proper response is … oops. For example, between 2006-2008, in just two immigration detention centers in Arizona, 82 people were wrongly held, some for periods up to a year, before an immigration judge determined they were U.S. Citizens. That’s in the so-called Land of the Free?   The ACLU of Texas has long argued that a major problem with local police getting involved in monitoring immigration status is that it is discriminatory - people are often assumed to be an undocumented immigrant based solely on the color of their skin or the language they speak.  If, by some mistake, a person’s name is in the homeland security database (which does happen), he or she will be wrongly accused of being in this country without permission.  In Texas, with almost 38% of the population being from Hispanic or Latino origin, there is major concern about discrimination and abuse. These incidences should cause local law enforcement to think twice about honoring federal immigration holds.  As acknowledged by John Morton, director of ICE, ICE has no authority to detain American citizens.  Additionally, ICE has stated that it will not recompense local law enforcement for costs associated with extended detention and it will not indemnify for any litigation that local law enforcement may be subject to due to an unlawful detention. A low but persistent percentage of the nearly 400,000 people held for deportation each year are U.S. citizens.  This is unacceptable and is just another example of our freedom being slowly chipped away at in the name of so-called security.  And, it’s just another reason why the Secure Communities Program makes our communities anything but secure.