posted by Justino Mora - Admin
on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 18:25
Unfair and opaque "Secure Communities" fishing net expands all over US
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 5, 2011
Los Angeles – John Sandweg, counsel to Department for Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, hosted a phone call today for stakeholders, including community organizations like CHIRLA to announce it will, effective immediately and unilaterally, terminate all Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) with states who have signed one in order to implement “Secure Communities”, a fingerprint-sharing program between ICE and local police that in reality functions as a drag-net to detain undocumented immigrants, including half a million non-criminal immigrants.
The following is a statement from Angelica Salas, Executive Director, for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, a regional community-based organization based in Los Angeles:
“From the beginning, S-Comm has been shrouded in lies and deception – and it is increasingly clear that its stated aim of targeting serious criminals was just a smokescreen for achieving record numbers of deportations for an 'enforcement-only' approach. Communities are being torn apart and community policing is being eviscerated. The much touted reforms that DHS announced recently and the so-called 'community' task force are delegitimized now. It's absolutely bad faith by DHS to blindside Americans ahead of the public hearings it has scheduled in several cities including Los Angeles.
California and Los Angeles is the home of immigrants and ICE has no business introducing this toxic organism into the Golden State. Rather than truly reforming S-Comm, ICE is busy spinning wool to put over the eyes of the community. This policy is disastrous and as such it can and should be ended.
This latest step is simply outrageous and we call on Governor Brown and Attorney General Harris to stand for the true values of California, and tell ICE that S-Comm needs to end.”
CONTACT: Jorge-Mario Cabrera, (562) 243-5559, [email protected]