Pres. Obama Makes Deportation His Main Policy by Imposing Secure Communities on States

Adding insult to injury, the Homeland Security Department has turned its back on state and local governments by deciding to unilaterally implement the discredited Secure Communities deportation program.

The decision to ignore state and local governments and simply impose the Obama administration’s signature enforcement program was announced last Friday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Morton in a letter to 40 governors.

Morton said the Homeland Security Department is terminating its Memorandum of Agreements with state governments that allowed them to opt out of the program. States have no choice but to comply with Secure Communities, he said.

New York immigrant advocacy groups reacted quickly.

“ICE’s decision to now eradicate the very agreements that it had worked so hard to bully states into accepting demonstrates yet again the agency’s lack of accountability to both the public and the state governments it supposedly wants to partner with,” said Michelle Fei, co-director of the Immigrant Defense Project.

Secure Communities has contributed to the deportation of more than 1 million immigrants under President Obama’s watch. Advocates and community organizations are calling for a complete dismantling of the controversial program.

Last June, Gov. Cuomo pulled New York State from Secure Communities. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick also took the same step. Friday’s announcement invalidates their move.

Their reasons for leaving were clear: The program’s mission was supposed to be the deportation of dangerous undocumented criminals, but in reality it was persecuting mostly low-level offenders or those never convicted of any crime. By undermining the community’s trust in local police, Secure Communities was undermining public safety.

The federal program turns local police into immigration enforcers.

ICE records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that nearly 79% of individuals deported nationally through the program from October 2008 through June 2010 had no criminal record or were arrested for minor offenses.

“This decision of the Obama administration to rescind all of the agreements and deny states the opportunity to opt out of Secure Communities sends a chilling message that immigration enforcement will respect no boundaries in its dragnet approach to detention and deportation,” said Valeria Treves, executive director of the Jackson Heights-based New Immigrant Community Empowerment.

By removing the authority of states to protect their own residents, the federal government is “instilling fear and insecurity in immigrant communities,” Treves added.

“The Department of Homeland Security should respect the decision made by Gov. Cuomo to keep Secure Communities out of our state, and to protect the rights of all New Yorkers,” said Udi Ofer, advocacy director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. He said his group and other civil rights organizations are considering filing suit against the Homeland Security Department.

Of course, if President Obama had wanted it, things would be different. He has the executive authority to change the situation.

But despite the President’s words to the contrary, Secure Communities and massive deportations clearly are his immigration policy.

As the American Friends Service Committee said, Obama has granted impunity to the Homeland Security Department to “devastate communities, separate families and terrorize people of color.”