Month: June 2011

A new bill, just filed by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), proposes to
give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to
indefinitely detain immigrants. If passed, H.R. 1932, the Keep Our
Communities Safe Act, would give DHS the power to detain and hold as
long as it deems necessary certain “dangerous” immigrants who are under
orders of removal but cannot be deported. The bill, which is
co-sponsored by Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Dennis Ross (R-FL) would do the
following, among other things:

(1) Remove key portions of two Supreme Court Decisions that stated an
immigrant cannot be detained for a period over six months, even in cases
in which the person cannot be deported.

(2) Give DHS the ability to detain immigrants for a range of offenses, including writing a bad check.

(3) Give DHS the ability to detain an immigrant for years without having
to conduct a bond hearing in front of an immigration judge.

Detractors of the bill comment that, if the bill is passed, it will be challenged.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this week that his state will
no longer participate in the Secure Communities program. New York is the
second state to choose not to participate in this federal immigration
enforcement program. “There are concerns about the implementation of the
program as well as its impact on families, immigrant communities and
law enforcement in New York,” wrote Cuomo in a letter to the Department
of Homeland Security. “As a result, New York is suspending its
participation in the program.”

New York will review whether the Secure Communities program is
successfully meeting its goal to deport convicted felons, stated Cuomo’s
office in a press release issued this week as well. The statement also
commented that it appeared Secure Communities is not only failing in
deporting convicted felons, but is also “undermining law enforcement.”

Secure Communities is an information-sharing program between state,
local and federal enforcement agencies. It gives the FBI access to
fingerprints taken by local police; the FBI then shares this information
with Homeland Security.