Safe Havens revisited!
California lawmakers are the latest to weigh joining efforts in other states to gain control over a controversial national program that automatically checks the immigration status of arrestees.
The Golden State accounts for more than a third of the deportations under the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program, and some local officials are saying they were misled by the federal government about the program's extent.
Illinois lawmakers are also considering a measure to let communities retreat from the program. Washington state has deferred to local governments on whether they want to join the so-called "Secure Communities" program, which links up the FBI's criminal database and the Department of Homeland Security's records so that every time someone is arrested their immigration status is automatically, electronically checked.
But their efforts could be thwarted as federal officials argue that states have no control over what information is shared among federal agencies.
The tug-of-war over the ICE program highlights the tension between states and the federal government in the absence of a legislative fix on immigration. In the last four years, states have passed a flurry of bills and resolutions on issues ranging from employer verification to access to driver's licenses, most notably Arizona's tough local immigration enforcement law.
Immigrant advocates have lambasted ICE's fingerprint sharing program for sweeping up crime victims and witnesses who are arrested during an investigation in addition to those accused of committing a crime. About 29 percent of the 102,000 immigrants deported under the program since it began in 2008 have no criminal conviction, according to federal government statistics.
On Tuesday, the California Assembly's public safety committee voted to advance the bill that would only let local communities participate in the program if they choose to do so through resolution.
The measure is being met with applause from immigrant advocates, and from some in law enforcement, including San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey, who has long pushed to withdraw from a program he fears will make immigrants afraid to report crime and erode their trust in law enforcement.
"It clearly is not the worst of the worst (being caught) and we're simply using it as a de facto immigration policy," said Quintin Mecke, a spokesman for Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, the bill's sponsor.
However, the bill faces criticism from the California State Sheriffs' Association, which says the electronic checks overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement are cost effective and eliminating them would place a burden on their agencies.
Republican Assemblyman Curt Hagman, who opposes the bill, also said the country can't have a state-by-state immigration policy and that California has to play by the federal government's rules on a federal issue.
"They shouldn't be able to pick and choose what laws are valid and what ones aren't," Hagman said, adding that the bill's extensive reporting requirements for communities that want to remain in Secure Communities make it too onerous to do so.
The debate over the ICE program is playing out across the country as federal authorities aim to achieve nationwide coverage in 2013. It currently is in effect in more than 1,200 jurisdictions in 42 states. The controversy heightened after The Associated Press reported in February that the program initially billed as voluntary by federal officials is now mandatory and that cities must turn over the fingerprint data to ICE.
Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren has said she believes some of the statements made by Homeland Security and ICE officials about the program were intentionally false and misleading and has asked the department's inspector general to investigate.
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