Florida implements ICE's Secure Communities program
The United States DHS has deported 30,700 illegal aliens with level 1, 2, or 3 crimes in their past; of these, 1,800 illegal aliens have been removed from Florida; as Florida implements the Secure Communities program, the expectation is that the number of deportees will increase
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) have announced that ICE’s Secure Communities program has begun in Florida. Secure Communities is set-up to help state officials identify criminal foreigners, both legally and illegally in the United States, already in police custody (see “More counties join Secure Communities,” 2 April 2010 HSNW; and “San Diego uses biometrics to identify and remove criminal aliens,” 3 June 2009 HSNW).
Third Factor reports that the program identifies the aliens via biometrics such as fingerprints that were registered when they enter prison compared with the biometrics registered with ICE and entered into DHS’s database when they entered the country.
The point behind the program is to stop the release of illegal aliens back into the United States once their sentence is complete. Florida’s entry into the program brings Secure Communities’ involvement up to 392 jurisdictions in 23 states and is expected to help push the number of illegal aliens with level 1, 2, or 3 crimes in their past removed from the United States beyond its current number of 30,700 as 1,800 illegal aliens have already been removed from Florida under the system.
