Wisconsin Police: Stop Abusing the Secure Communities Program

The Issue

Under the Secure Communities program, local police are able to check the fingerprints of arrested individuals against federal immigration databases.

States like Colorado have removed language in Secure Communities that categorizes the severity of the crimes committed by individuals whose fingerprints will be checked against federal immigration databases. Luckily, a Wisconsin state statute, specifies that counties should only fingerprint arrested individuals with more serious crimes (such as felonies and a few misdemeanors that include sex crimes, weapons offenses, gambling and burglaries) and check them against federal immigration databases. Yet, counties like Dane County, are opposed to punishing only individuals with serious crimes.

ICE reported that 37% of individuals that were taken by ICE had no criminal record, this is inaccuracy is a cause for concern. Due process rights of all individuals is at risk, including individuals who have not committed any crime face deportation and detention.

Urge local police in Wisconsin and throughout the country that ICE and local police should only target and punish individuals with serious crimes. This would satisfy ICE's objective to make communities 'secure' and enhance public safety.

Photo credit: The Cap Times

Erin PangilinanPetition StarterErin Jerri Malonzo Pangilinan graduated with a BA from UC Berkeley as an Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies double major with honors and is an active member of the Berkeley Asian American Pacific Islander Alumni Association. She continues to write as a news correspondent for Philippine News for five years, and has published news and poetry in Yellow as Turmeric, Fragrant as Cloves: A Contemporary Anthology of Asian American Women's Poetry, {m}aganda magazine, and hardboiled asian american newsmagazine.

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