The Houston Chronicle reported that the Obama administration is expanding a program initiated by former President Bush to verify the immigration status of every person that is incarcerated in the local jails.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) implemented a program called Secure Communities. The program is currently in 48 counties in seven states. The USICE plans to expand it to all jails and prisons by the end of 2012. Congress has already allocated $350 million for the program and, President Obama recently asked Congress for a 30% increase in federal funding to expand the program.
Under the program’s expansion, the immigration checks will be automatically done by local law enforcement. The information obtained will be cross referenced with the FBI’s criminal history database and then further cross referenced against immigration databases maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Critics of the program like Jessica Vaughan, Director of Policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington D.C. based organization that advocates tighter immigration control said,
“It’s a good program. It’s a very expensive program, but I don’t know if it’s feasible or sensible for all state and local governments.”
The program’s expansion will result in more immigrants being placed in deportation proceedings, but the bigger problem of comprehensive immigration reform will still be looming, and must be given the attention it deserves.
