San Francisco County Sheriff Michael Hennessey. Photo by Luke Thomas.
From Asian Law Caucus
September 2, 2010
A broad coalition of civil rights groups today applaud Sheriff Michael Hennessey for sending another letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the California Department of Justice to request that San Francisco be allowed to out of a dangerous finger printing program known as S-Comm (i.e., Secure Communities).
S-Comm is a program that automatically shares with ICE any fingerprints taken by local law enforcement right after any individuals are arrested, no matter how minimal the charge or whether the individual is eventually found to be innocent of alleged charges, thereby resulting in increased deportations and the tearing apart of families. In the past six months, ICE has tripled the number of jurisdictions operating S-Comm, and it is now in 494 jurisdictions in 27 states.[1]
Sheriff Hennessey sent the letter requesting to opt out of S-Comm on August 31st in response to a document issued by ICE that confirms that participation in S-Comm is voluntary, and not mandatory. The ICE document, entitled, “Setting the Record Straight” states in relevant part:
“If a jurisdiction does not wish to activate on its scheduled date in the Secure Communities deployment plan, it must formally notify its state identification bureau and ICE in writing (email, letter or facsimile). Upon receipt of that information, ICE will request a meeting with federal partners, the jurisdiction, and the state to discuss any issues and come to a resolution, which may include adjusting the jurisdiction’s activation date in or removing the jurisdiction from the deployment plan.”
Rachel Ebora, Director of Community Engagement at Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, praised Sheriff Hennessey for his courage and leadership, “This city is fortunate to have Sheriff Hennessey who knows that one of the keys to successful law enforcement is building trust with all community members, including immigrant residents.”
Maria Carolina Morales, Intervention Director at Community United Against Violence, also expressed strong support for the Sheriff’s request to opt out. “SF has done everything required of us to opt out. Sheriff Hennessey and the Board of Supervisors have voiced our concerns loud and clear. It’s now ICE’s turn to follow through on their word and allow SF to do what has been within our right all along – opt out. Only then will we be able to focus our local resources back on local law enforcement and untangle ourselves from being drafted into conducting federal immigration enforcement.”
In a recent statement from ICE to the press, ICE spokesperson Virginia Kice, states , “Once ICE receives the correspondence from the San Francisco County Sheriff, we will review the request and convene a meeting with the other agencies involved, including the California Department of Justice, to discuss the Sheriff’s specific issues and concerns. Based upon those discussions, ICE and its partners will examine the options and seek a feasible resolution, which may include changing the jurisdiction’s activation status.”
Background on S-Comm in SF: Although Sheriff Hennessey made it clear prior to the implementation of S-Comm in San Francisco on June 8th that the city wants to opt out of this voluntary program, ICE initially rejected his request. Attorney General Jerry Brown added to the confusion by refusing to allow SF to opt out despite a clear statement in the cover letter to the MOU agreement that he signed with ICE which allows counties to opt out. However, Brown’s Office in subsequent meetings with civil rights groups revised his position and stated that he would not stand in the way if counties were able to find an opt out path with ICE.
Numerous localities throughout the country have joined San Francisco in voicing strong concerns about the lack of transparency and the harm to community policing posed by S-Comm. A coalition of national civil rights organizations recently released documents obtained from filing a FOIA suit against ICE that showed that a significant percentage of those deported under the program were “non-criminals.”[2] According to an August 10th report analyzing data from ICE, about 26 percent of all those deported nationwide under S-Comm are non-criminals, with the rate as high as 82 percent in some jurisdictions. The New York Times also has issued an editorial calling the program a “bait and switch” for its lack of transparency and the fact that the vast majority of those deported under S-Comm were non-criminals or charged with low-level crimes. In response, ICE has recently changed their tune and confirmed that the program is voluntary.
The San Francisco Immigrant Rights Defense Committee is a growing alliance of immigrant rights advocates, labor groups, faith leaders, youth advocates, and LGBT activists. This includes, but is not limited to, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Asian Law Caucus, Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, Central American Resource Center, Dolores Street Community Services, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Instituto Familiar de la Raza, Inc., La Raza Centro Legal, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network, and Young Workers United.
The ACLU of Northern California also joins in this press release.
http://www.ice.gov/doclib/secure_communities/pdf/sc_activated.pdf.
[2] Visit the Center for Constitutional Rights’ Secure Communities FOIA case page for the text of the April 27th FOIA Complaint and all records obtained through the FOIA litigation. Other relevant S-Comm news and information is available at www.uncoverthetruth.org.
The Hunger Site
September 20, 2010 at 4:41 pm
A Century of Research Finds that Crime Rates for Immigrants are Lower than for the Native-Born~
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/immigrants-and-crime-are-they-connected-century-research-finds-crime-rates-immigrants-are
Undocumented Immigrants are Bolstering Social Security with Billions~
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/business/05immigration.html
The Effect of Immigrants on U.S. Employment and Productivity: “Statistical analysis of state-level data shows that immigrants expand the economy’s productive capacity by stimulating investment and promoting specialization. This produces efficiency gains and boosts income per worker. At the same time, evidence is scant that immigrants diminish the employment opportunities of U.S.-born workers.” –Giovanni Peri, from a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2010/el2010-26.html
September 15, 2010 at 1:32 am
Defund and deport illegal aliens. The Arizona illegal alien couple (10 children) is a perfect example. For 15 years they worked “under the table” in construction and restaurants, and did not pay taxes or social security. Corrupt civil servants provided the couple with undeserved welfare monies from the taxpayers, The couple owns a shiny pickup truck and a late model Chevrolet Suburban, and lives in a house. At least they did before they got smart and moved out of Arizona, to Colorado. Now Colorado taxpayers can join all federal taxpayers and fund the couple and their 10 children.
ENOUGH! Repeat the above for 20 million illegal aliens in the U.S.
Why are we benefitting these illegal aliens? Why are we locked into this guilt trip? A study in Utah found 13,000 illegal aliens on Utah state government benefit/welfare programs. There are probably many thousands more than that in Utah alone.
RACIST: the news reporter asked questions in English, the illegal-alien wife, who had been in Arizona 15 years, responded in Spanish. Should immigrants from China, Vietnam, The Philippines, Russia, Sweden, Germany, etc. all demand to speak only in their beautiful native language? Only if they want to be left behind, as English is the language of technology and the world. Spanish is the language of corrupt illiterate countries that can’t provide clean drinking water and reliable electricity for their citizens and are continually in dire straits, one economic disaster and one revolution after another, after another, etc.
Wonderful Mexico, with its corruption and lovely drug cartel war. Now they want to bring that culture to the U.S.
LATINO CULTURE: Try this short video from National Geo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi8kPnkIK0A The kid’s in jail, his brother was the enemy of a gang, so the gang members in jail shank this kid. He can’t reveal who did it because the gang outside might kill his mom. Wonderful. As some say, “It’s a peasant culture.” Uhuh.
September 8, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Racism, Immigration and Profit~
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/international-archives-60/1572-racism-immigration-and-profit
September 6, 2010 at 4:40 am
On all the lists of most wanted by police departments and the FBI, 50% to 75% of the names on the lists are Latino. At the same time, Latinos (such as a commenter above) are truly well-skilled at portraying themselves as the victims. My Latino neighbors below me are not working (at age 52, he owns real estate and has a State of California pension; I believe his mother never worked) do not volunteer anywhere, but gladly suck up one benefit program after another. And then, Latinos decry S-Comm, E-Verify, the fence, etc., etc. When Mexican President Caulderon said, “Wherever there is a Mexican, there is Mexico,” he must have been thinking of Pelican Bay, Folsom, San Quentin, Soledad, and all the rest.
September 5, 2010 at 3:46 pm
The S-Comm program is excellent. In San Francisco, we are short of jobs for citizens and legal Green Card and Valid VIsa immigrants. The illegal immigrants are taking away employment opportunities from deserving law-abiding people, and are taking government welfare from other deserving legal residents. There is no excuse for not using S-Comm, other than calculated political gains for Hennessey. Mexico does not allow illegal immigration from Central America and South America. Even Americans who find themselves in Mexico with overstayed visas, etc. are treated badly by both locals and government reps. Latinos consistently oppose improvements in law enforcement. A Latina on the Police Commission objects to the SFPD using tasers, which save lives. Incredible. Get ready: In 2011, we will pass laws outlawing anchor babies.
September 4, 2010 at 5:42 pm
There is more than one war being waged in this country: the wars abroad and the war at home. The latter is being waged on the backs of people of color and immigrants, who are the fodder for our increasingly privatised prison system. Initatives like S-Comm, 287(g) and SB 1070 mainly serve to perperpetuate the racial caste system in America. We need to make the connection between the violence and racism of the wars at home and abroad. I commend Sheriff Hennessey for his courage and compassion in standing up to ICE and Jerry Brown.
September 2, 2010 at 2:26 am
Mike’s on a roll,
You see his letter to the editor in this morning’s Examiner? Basically an attack upon Jeff Adachi’s mayoral ambitions. Oh, it reads as an anecdotal argument against Prop B (and, a fine one I might add) but insiders know it’s all really about Room 200 in November 2012.
What’s up here? First he takes on Jerry Brown over the ICE and now Adachi? Looks like the all time SF vote getter (total the votes he’s gotten over 30 years and deny it) … looks like Mike is ready to get out of jail and run for Mayor.
I sure hope so.
How about an IRV ticket of Gonzalez, Adachi and Hennessey next year? Be still my commie heart.
In fairness though now. Ask the Sheriff how he’d save 170 million a year. Picking apart someone else’s plans to get off the island is easy. What are his?
h.