The fight to prevent Secure Communities from taking full effect in the District remained in full swing at the John A. Wilson Building on Friday, January 6, 2012, where Kathryn M. Doan, the executive director of CAIR Coalition, and 19 other witnesses, testified before the Council of the District of Columbia and a room packed to capacity in favor of the Immigration Detainer Compliance Amendment Act of 2011.
This legislation, co-sponsored by all thirteen council members, would direct the DC Department of Corrections to honor ICE detainer requests only for individuals who have been convicted of violent crimes. In addition, the bill requires ICE to collect the individual within 24 hours after the completion of the individual’s criminal proceedings and to pay for the additional period of detention. The bill mirrors those passed in New York City, Cook County, IL and Santa Clara, CA.
Advocates and community members spoke out on the impact of Secure Communities on domestic violence survivors, public safety, and the program’s fiscal impact. Addressing the issue of public safety, Ms. Doan shared the story of an immigrant CAIR Coalition staff met in detention who had been placed in ICE custody in Virginia (where the Secure Communities program operates statewide) after calling the police to report a hit and run accident. As Ms. Doan testified, “We do not want these stories to start circulating in DC. We want District residents to reach for the phone without hesitation when they or someone else needs help.”
Ms. Doan further testified that “Currently, only a small percentage of immigrant detainees in Virginia are from the District. However, we can expect this number to grow significantly if the DC Council fails to pass the Immigration Detainer Compliance Amendment Act of 2012.”
