Fair and Comprehensive Immigration Reform
WHEREAS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has developed a program that entangles and burdens local police with civil immigration enforcement, known as Secure Communities (S-Comm) which requires the sharing of fingerprint information at the point of booking by local or state law enforcement, citizen or non-citizen, no matter the severity, with the Department of Homeland Security/ICE and since implementation of S Comm individuals who are picked up by the police for a minor offense, or traffic infraction have ended up in deportation proceedings; and
WHEREAS, the program has torn apart local communities throughout the country and has eroded public trust of the police within immigrant communities, leading Governors Pat Quinn of Illinois, Andrew Cuomo of New York, and Patrick Duval of Massachusetts to formally request to terminate, suspend or refuse to sign an agreement with ICE with regard to S Comm, and law enforcement officials have expressed strong concerns regarding the damage caused by S-Comm on community policing; and
WHEREAS, ICE's own current data has consistently shown that the vast majority of those deported due to S-Comm (about 70%) have no criminal convictions or were arrested on minor charges, including traffic violations. This is why the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on March 5, 2011, sent a letter to President Obama, asking him to suspend S-Comm pending a thorough review of this deeply flawed program; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the U.S. Congressional Progressive Caucus, and the Los Angeles Congressional Delegation have all called upon President Barack Obama to suspend S-Comm nationally because of concerns over racial profiling and the harm caused to victims of crime in such a way that victims of crime, including survivors of domestic violence, have been swept up into deportation proceedings by S-Comm after calling the police for help.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP calls upon President Barack Obama, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Congress to take steps to pass just, fair and comprehensive immigration reform, rather than strengthen deeply flawed police/ICE collaboration programs like S-Comm that erode trust between local police and the community.