May
09
A local election in Travis County, Texas, is bringing to light important questions surrounding the controversial Secure Communities program. As recently reported by the Texas Tribune, Democratic primary challenger John Sisson has criticized incumbent Sheriff Greg Hamilton for honoring federal immigration “detainers”—the lynchpin of Secure Communities—because of their harm to immigrant communities. While Hamilton has …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/09/in-heart-of-texas-sheriff-takes-heat-for-honoring-immigration-detainers/
Apr
09
Keeping to its tradition of releasing controversial reports on holidays and Friday afternoons, the DHS Office of Inspector General issued two reports on the controversial Secure Communities program last Friday. These reports had been anticipated for months by immigrant advocates, law enforcement officials, local elected officials, and others who hoped they would address serious concerns …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/04/09/dhs-inspector-general-issues-disappointing-reports-on-ices-secure-communities-program/
Mar
08
Immigration hardliners never hesitate to claim the mantle of “states’ rights” when defending laws like Arizona SB 1070. But those wanting local cops to double as federal immigration agents were conspicuously silent at a congressional hearing on Wednesday on the Scott Gardner Act, a bill that (among other things) would require police to run extra …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/03/08/why-the-scott-gardner-act-is-unconstitutionaland-a-bad-idea/
Feb
13
A new report from the Commission to Study the Impact of Immigrants in Maryland concludes that immigrants bring a plethora of economic, social, and cultural contributions to the state of Maryland. The commission, which was created by the Maryland General Assembly, also warns against attempts to deal with unauthorized immigration through enforcement-only policies that needlessly …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/02/13/report-by-maryland-state-panel-details-positive-approach-to-immigration/
Jan
27
The President’s State of the Union address this week re-iterated some of his key themes on immigration—support for comprehensive reform, dismay that DREAM Act students and foreign students educated in this country have no way to legalize their status, and a belief that he’s done enough to the secure the border. More importantly, he framed …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/01/27/following-state-of-the-union-address-president-obama-needs-to-follow-through-on-immigration-reforms/
Jan
13
An October 2010 ICE memo from ICE Deputy Legal Advisor Riah Ramlogan to ICE Assistant Deputy Director Beth Gibson has finally been made public after a protracted legal battle. The nine page memo, obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, presents ICE’s legal arguments for making the Secure Communities Program mandatory for all jurisdictions …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/01/13/ice-releases-memo-outlining-justification-for-making-secure-communities-mandatory/
Jan
10
Despite the ongoing controversy surrounding ICE’s Secure Communities program, there have been some recent positive developments on the issue of immigration detainers—a tool used by ICE and other DHS officials to identify potentially deportable individuals who are housed in jails or prisons nationwide. Local governments in New York, Illinois, California and now Washington D.C. have …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/01/10/ice-local-governments-make-important-changes-to-immigration-detainer-policies/
Dec
15
Today, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Janet Napolitano, announced that DHS will terminate its 287(g) agreement with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and restrict access to the Secure Communities program, following damaging findings released by the Department of Justice (DOJ). After a three year long civil rights investigation into the Maricopa …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/12/15/dhs-shuts-down-287g-agreement-with-maricopa-county-following-doj-investigation-restricts-secure-communities/
Nov
30
Congressman Steve King (R-IA), Subcommittee on Immigration Policy & Enforcement. Today, the House Immigration Subcommittee held a hearing on the Secure Communities program (S-Comm)—an enforcement program that has been rife with controversy since its inception in 2008. Today’s hearing featured statements from a variety of witnesses and members of Congress which further underscored the problems …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/11/30/house-subcommittee-hearing-underscores-problems-with-secure-communities-program/
Nov
02
New data on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) controversial Secure Communities reveals the program’s devastating impact on immigrants, Latinos and U.S. citizens. Released by the Warren Institute at Berkeley Law School, the report, “Secure Communities by the Numbers,” examines the profile of individuals who have been apprehended through the program and funneled through the …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/11/02/new-data-highlights-devastating-impact-of-secure-communities-on-immigrant-and-latino-communities/
Immigration Impact is a project of the American Immigration Council.
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