The federal initiative is known as THE Secure Community Program. It involves the SHARING of finger print information through federal immigration databases when local police arrest an immigrant.  

The program is the largest expansion of federal government collaboration with local police in the enforcement of federal immigration law. Right now, 160 jurisdictions in 20 states across the country have implemented IT.  

The federal agency responsible for the secure community program – Immigration and Customs Enforcement, OR “ICE” – SAYS that the program is a “comprehensive plan to identify and remove criminal aliens” but new york immigrants' rights activists took to the streets last week to make the case that it's a threat to immigrant communities. 

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Angela Fanadez of the Northern Manhattan Coalition says the introduction of the program has increased the rate of deportation.  

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If an immigrant ends up in jail before he is even charged for anything, before even going to trail, immigration takes them right away to start detention and deportation” 

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Bridget Kissler, of the Cardoszo Law School Immigration Justice Clinic says those fears are legitimate – that ice sometimes oversteps its bounds. 
 
 

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“The intention behind the program is the remover of immigrants who have been convicted of serious crimes. However since the inception, it appears that majority of the people removed through the program have been convicted of very low level offence like traffic offence or never been  convicted of anything at all” 

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Officials at ice did not respond to requests for an interview.  

At the rally, the fear of removAL and deportation emerged as a major concern for immigrants in New York. Soledad Villacis came here from Ecuador. She says such fears would force her to close up her beauty shop. 

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``They are going to start chasing us as criminals. Just because you look like immigrants’ does not mean that you are undocumented. We don’t have documents but we are professionals, we are here to give our work, to give our creation to the country`` 

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Detention and deportation through the Secure Community Program is taking it toll on the immigrant community, according to Reverend Hector Laporte of the United Methodist Church in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. 

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My members have fears; they are scared what’s going to happen to them. They are children and single mothers we need to do something. `` 

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Immigration lawyer Joan Howards says something has to be done to reduce the fear of detention and deportation among immigrants. 

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“We need to change the law to make it more humane and we have to realize that the only difference between the immigrants of today and the immigrants of a hundred years is that we got here first” 

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Howards says the solution is comprehensive immigration reform. In the meantime, New York immigrants got some relief from governor David Patterson, who this week announced a new policy that would prevent deportation in cases where immigrants committed minor offenses. 

SOLOMON ADEBAYO, COLUMBIA RADIO NEWS.