ICE plans expansion of immigration database program

Washington Examiner

By: David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer

January 28, 2010 The federal government is planning to expand nationwide an immigration records sharing program used in the District, Fairfax County and Prince William County.

Under the program, known as Secure Communities, local jails check arrestees’ fingerprints against biometrics-based immigration records held by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as criminal records held by the FBI.

The government plans to introduce the system in “literally every single city and county in the United States,” said John Morton, assistant secretary for ICE. The agency expects Secure Communities to be expanded nationwide by 2013, according to ICE.

The fact that ICE does the legwork in processing cases is one reason that the program is working well in Fairfax, said Sheriff Stan Barry. Fairfax entered into the partnership, which does not require additional funds from the county, in March.

Prince William and Loudoun counties participate in a program that deputizes local law enforcement officials to enforce certain federal immigration laws. Critics of the program, known as 287(g), argue that it can lead to racial profiling, and that the introduction of Secure Communities could make it redundant.

But Morton did not see it that way.

Secure Communities is only a way to identify criminals, he said, and delegating detention authority to state and local governments through programs like 287(g) is a way to “augment the resources that we have.”

In Maryland, Montgomery County, which does not participate in the 287(g) program, reports illegal immigrants to ICE only if they are arrested for violent or handgun-related crimes. The Montgomery County attorney recently backed the policy over complaints from the police union that the mandate is unconstitutional.

Arthur Wallenstein, director of the county’s Adult Detention Center, did not take a position on the Secure Communities program.

“There is no work for us to do, and no decisions to make regarding any individual arrestee” under Secure Communities, he said. “The policy decision on whether to do it rests with the executive.”

A county spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

dsherfinski@washingtonexaminer.com

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