Alameda County Joins “Secure Communities”

According to Oakland North, Alameda County, California, which includeds Berkeley and Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area, recently became the fourth Bay Area county to participate in a federal immigration enforcement program (Secure Communities) that mandates fingerprint checks on everyone booked at local jails to determine whether they are subject to deportation. Civil rights defenders criticize the program, claiming that its implementation could lead to racial profiling and the deportation of immigrants who do not pose a public safety threat.

Secure Communities is administered by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  

Under the program, ICE will receive alerts whenever the system reveals that someone booked in a local jail is subject to deportation.

KJ