Cities, Counties Can't Stop Federal Immigration Checks

Officials in a number of jurisdictions are criticizing Secure Communities, the federal government's immigration enforcement program.

Under the program, the fingerprints of those arrested in participating jurisdictions are checked against Immigration and Customs Enforcement's database in order to determine whether the suspects are eligible for deportation.

If ICE finds that the suspect is eligible for deportation, either because the suspect is in the country illegally or because he holds a green card that has been voided by a previous conviction, it can then begin proceedings to bring the individual into federal custody for possible deportation.

Some officials say that they do not want their jurisdictions to participate in the program because they are concerned that immigrants will no longer cooperate with police out of fear of being deported.

But while participating in Secure Communities has been characterized as voluntary, jurisdictions cannot decide that they no longer want to take part in the program, according to a memo released by ICE in August.

However, the memo also goes on to note that local officials can request a meeting with ICE so that both sides can discuss any problems with Secure Communities and come to an agreement about whether or not the jurisdiction will continue to participate in the program.

However, local officials who have been critical of Secure Communities say that ICE has never agreed to such meetings.

As a result, it remains unclear whether or not there is any way for jurisdictions to stop participating in Secure Communities, critics of the program say.