Recent communication from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
implies that local communities, even those that chose to opt out, may
be required to participate in the Secure Communities program. The
program, which enables ICE to use fingerprints collected by state and
local law enforcement officials as a means to identify illegal
immigrants, is considered by many local law officials to be a detriment
to their ability to provide adequate police services to their
communities.
Secure Communities was widely considered to be optional and many local
communities, including the District of Columbia, San Francisco and
Santa Clara County (CA), had chosen to opt out of participation in the
program. However, a senior ICE official recently commented that ICE
will have access to fingerprints forwarded to FBI from state and local
law enforcement officials, regardless of local communities’ wishes to
not participate in the program.
