The last few months have demonstrated that despite widespread public opposition, ICE is determined to move forward with the controversial Secure Communities program. On August 5, 2011, ICE announced that Secure Communities, the program that allows state and local law enforcement and ICE to automatically and immediately search for both criminal and immigration history in DHS as well as FBI databases upon arrest, will be mandated in all 3,100 state and local jails by 2013. Under Secure Communities, ICE issues a detainer to local jails when they identify an arrestee for outstanding immigration violations, requesting that the jail holds the individual for an additional 48 hours to give ICE time to retrieve them and place them in immigration custody. ICE detainers are issued without establishing probable cause for deportation, and without notifying the person being detained or giving them the chance to challenge the detainer. In 2010, ICE issued an estimated 270,000 detainers, costing local government an estimated $43 per person per day, or an estimated $15 million annually.
Despite ICE’s insistence that Secure Communities is mandatory, immigrant activists throughout the country point out that ICE detainers are merely requests, and should therefore not be honored by local law enforcement. This argument has gained traction at the local level. Advocacy efforts were successful in Cook County, Illinois, where commissioners recently passed an ordinance forbidding the sheriff from abiding by any and all ICE detainers once the immigrant has completed their sentence or posted bail, the first ordinance of its kind to authorize release of even suspected felons with ICE detainers. Additionally, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has introduced legislation, supported by Mayor Bloomberg, that would prevent Rikers Island officials from honoring ICE detainers issued for immigrants who are going to be released because charges have been dropped, who have no prior convictions or outstanding warrants, who do not have an outstanding deportation order, and who do not appear on the terrorist watch list.
Activists in Washington, D.C. have now taken up the challenge of lobbying the D.C. City Council to pass similar legislation, claiming that ICE detainers promote racial profiling and harassment, and foment distrust between the police and immigrant communities. D.C. advocates have formed the D.C. Coalition Against Secure Communities, comprising advocates involved in a myriad of issues including immigrants’ rights, workers’ rights, day laborers’ rights, domestic violence, immigration detention, and human rights.
The coalition has successfully lobbied Mayor Gray, who issued an executive order on October 19, 2011 that prohibits public safety agencies from asking about a person’s immigration status or contacting ICE, unless that person’s immigration status pertains to a criminal investigation, and states that the District will not detain anyone on the sole belief that they have committed a civil immigration violation. City officials have stated that this order highlights the city’s commitment to supporting all residents who are in need, including crime victims and witnesses to crimes.
The DC Coalition is now continuing to push for the D.C. City Council to further strengthen the separation of federal immigration enforcement and local law enforcement activities in the District by passing legislation that would require the Metro Police Department, the Department of Corrections, and other local government agencies:
- Not to inquire about a person’s immigration status unless the person’s immigration status is central to an investigation of a criminal activity, including crime victims, witnesses, or others who call or approach the police seeking assistance;
- To establish a policy to ensure that D.C. incarcerated youth and adults are not made available for immigration interviews in-person, over the phone or by video unless there is a court order;
- Not to detain persons solely on the belief that he or she is not present legally in the United States, or that he or she has committed a civil immigration violation;
- To remove the place of birth field from the arrest booking form; and
- Only hold individuals on ICE detainers if immigration status is central to a criminal investigation. Immigration detainers, or ICE hold requests, do not impose any obligation on the department, and shall be understood as requests.
Advocates hope that the legislation will be introduced in the coming weeks.
