Secure Communities Program Update
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that the Secure Communities Initiative, which launched this year, has identified more than 110,000 criminal aliens. ICE initiated the Secure Communities Program, which partners with local law enforcement agencies, to identify and remove criminal foreign nationals. As part of the booking process, fingerprints of the arrested individuals are taken at the local enforcement level. The fingerprint information at the local level is shared with the DHS/ICE, allowing ICE to take appropriate measures in not releasing criminal aliens back into the community.
Currently, eleven states utilize the Secure Communities program, and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton announced the programs expansion. The program is expected to have a presence in every state by 2011 and be available to every law enforcement agency by 2013.
More information on the Secure Communities Initiative is available at www.ice.gov.
