We recommend the Aug 17th New York Times editorial about Secure Communities, which summarizes data on arrest and deportation statistics obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The editorial reports that the records, covering the program from its inception in October 2008 through June 2010, "lend disturbing credence to fears voiced by immigrant advocates and some law-enforcement officials." Read the entire editorial here: Immigration Bait and Switch (NYT - Aug 17, 2010)
Brief excerpt below:
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement records show that a vast majority, 79 percent, of people deported under Secure Communities had no criminal records or had been picked up for low-level offenses, like traffic violations and juvenile mischief. Of the approximately 47,000 people deported in that period only about 20 percent had been charged with or convicted of serious “Level 1” crimes, like assault and drug dealing.
The national average of Secure Communities deportees with no criminal records was about 26 percent, but that figure also varied wildly around the country. It was 54 percent in Maricopa County, Ariz., whose sheriff is notorious for staging indiscriminate immigration raids. In Travis County, Tex., it was 82 percent.
