(Secure Communities) Deportation Program Sows Mistrust, U.S. Is Told

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

A task force advising an Obama administration deportation program has sharply criticized immigration officials for creating confusion about its purposes and has found that the program had an “unintended negative impact” on public safety in local communities.

In a report on the program, known as Secure Communities, the task force said that the program had eroded public trust by leading to the detention of many immigrants who had not committed serious crimes, after officials said its aim was to remove “the worst of the worst” immigrant criminals from the United States. The task force report was completed Wednesday.

The report also said that immigration officials had created tensions with local authorities by making inconsistent statements on whether states and cities were required to participate.

In the most significant of its recommendations, the task force said that fingerprint identifications through the program should no longer lead federal agents to deport immigrants arrested by local police officers for minor traffic violations.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/us/politics/deportation-program-draws-more-criticism.html

[Lugnut]

1. K&R n/t

[zanelawson]

2. Re: (Secure Communities) Deportation Program Sows Mistrust, U.S. Is Told

Legal immigrants should be careful not to commit crimes. That program is too restrictive and unfair for the immigrants since they are legal.