US: Protesting immigration enforcement strategy
Published:Wednesday | August 17, 2011 | 2:08 PM
A programme that is key to United States President Barack Obama’s immigration enforcement strategy known as Secure Communities has drawn protests by many immigrant organisations and individuals in six cities over the last two days.
Under Secure Communities, fingerprints of anyone booked into jail by the state and local police are sent to the FBI for criminal checks and also to the Department of Homeland Security, which records immigration violations.
Immigration agents decide whether to detain non-citizens signaled by fingerprint matches.
Organisers say the protests were a response to an announcement by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the programme would continue to expand to meet its declared goal of covering the whole country by 2013.
Immigration advocates have issued a report denouncing the programme and calling for the Obama administration to halt it.
According to the advocates, the last two years immigration authorities have deported nearly 800,000 people.