Secure Communities is a DHS program designed to identify immigrants in U.S. jails who are deportable under immigration law. Under Secure Communities, participating jails submit arrestees’ fingerprints not only to criminal databases, but to immigration databases as well; allowing ICE access to information on individuals held in jails. Unlike other ICE‐local partnerships, Secure Communities gives ICE a technological, not physical, presence in prisons and jails. No Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) with local law‐enforcement agencies are required, and no local law‐enforcement agents are deputized to enforce immigration laws through Secure Communities. The below report further explores this subject offering explanation, analysis, and policy recommendations.

View the Secure Communities Report from the Immigrant Policy Center - written by Michele Waslin, Ph.D.