The Secure Communities Initiative has just been deployed in two new
counties, both in California. Beginning last Tuesday, law enforcement
agencies in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties became a part of
the initiative, that gives them access to electronic booking machines
that check the digital fingerprints of arrested persons against the FBI
criminal history records and the Department of Homeland Security’s
(DHS) immigration records. If there is a match to DHS data, Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is informed and, when needed, will become
involved to ensure that criminal aliens are not released back into the
public.
“Secure Communities provides local law enforcement with an effective
tool to identify dangerous criminal aliens,” said Marc Rapp, Acting
Secure Communities Executive Director. “Enhancing public safety is at
the core of ICE’s mission. Our goal with Secure Communities is to use
information sharing to prevent criminal aliens from being released back
into the community, with little or no additional burden on our law
enforcement partners.”
More than 108 regions in 15 states currently participate in the Secure
Communities initiative. ICE plans to implement the initiative
nationwide by 2013.
