WA Counties Deciding Fate of Immigration Program

SEATTLE — When the governor's office declined last year to make a unilateral decision on behalf of all the state's sheriffs, it fell to each individually to activate a federal program that uses fingerprint analysis to identify illegal immigrants in county jails, the so-called Secure Communities initiative.

Now, as more than a dozen of Washington's 39 counties are participating, the state's largest immigrant advocacy group and its allies are lobbying against the program statewide.

But some involved sheriffs, especially from smaller counties, said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement program is simply another way to make certain people with criminal records are properly screened.

"It's not uncommon for us to have somebody claim to be someone they're not," said Franklin County Sheriff Richard Lathim. "It's just another layer of security."

The pushback against Secure Communities is nationwide, as the program evolves, with its final shape uncertain. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that communities will not have an option of whether to join when the program becomes mandatory by 2013.

Immigrant right groups say Secure Communities can discourage immigrants from reporting crimes and can lead to the deportation of people who haven't been convicted of anything. Advocates have gone on the offensive in the past year, publishing internal documents through records requests, lobbying lawmakers, and setting up community groups

To read the entire article by Manuel Valdes, visit the Seattle Times