Theirs is a story that needs to be told. Tens of thousands of immigrants are being arrested by local law enforcement agencies and now face detention or deportation. But their voices are not heard from behind detention walls. We want to change that. We are launching a project to record these stories and post them on the web, adding detainee voices to a critical discussion about the use of local police to enforce federal immigration laws. The “Story Line” will be hosted... Read More

Onlookers cheer the Arlington County, VA, board's unanimous vote to opt-out of Secure Communities. Editor’s Update: ICE has since made conflicting comments about whether counties can, or cannot opt-out of Secure Communities. Tuesday marked what could be a historic turning point in efforts to opt-out of Secure Communities now that the process has been outlined by three high-level federal officials. The Board of Supervisors in Santa Clara County, California, kicked things... Read More

ICE collaboration with local police is causing strong distrust in the immigrant community, according to a study by the California Immigrant Policy Center called “We’re Not Feeling Any Safer.” “The harmful impacts described in the survey raise serious concerns about the rapid expansion of ‘Secure Communities’ and other initiatives that push local police to enforce immigration law,” said Isaac Menashe, one of the study’s authors. The... Read More

We recently asked, “Is it Really Possible to Opt-Out of Secure Communities?” Now Deportation Nation has learned that Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano confirmed the opt-out process in letter sent Sept. 7 to Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). Napolitano’s letter comes in response to an inquiry made by Lofgren in a July 27 letter to Napolitano and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about confusion over the opt-out process. “The highest... Read More

Thirty states are enrolled in Secure Communities. In July 2010, the nation's capital became the first jurisdiction to withdraw from the program after its district council unanimously voted to ban police from sharing fingerprint data with immigration authorities. Is your state or local jurisdiction still on the fence about joining Secure Communities? Are you part of an opt-out campaign where police already share arrest data with ICE? Please leave a comment below to share... Read More

Last Thursday federal officials released a memo called “Setting the Record Straight” that outlines for the first time how local police can opt-out of sharing arrest data with immigration authorities via enrollment in the “Secure Communities” program. But so far, the process exists only on paper. The memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) states: All of these steps sounded familiar to San Francisco County Sheriff Michael Hennessey, except the... Read More