7 Reasons to Abandon the Secure Communities Program

Kubrin, Charis E. In Press. 7 Reasons to Abandon the Secure Communities Program. Criminology & Public Policy. DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12086.

16 Pages Posted: 8 Sep 2014

Date Written: September 6, 2014

Abstract

Secure Communities is a program launched by the federal government to improve the efficiency of interior immigration enforcement and to enhance the capacity for targeting deportable individuals with criminal convictions, referred to as “criminal aliens.” In particular, Secure Communities provides a system that automatically transmits and checks fingerprints against the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT), which contains information on known immigration violators, known and suspected terrorists, and “criminal aliens,” among others. A fingerprint match prompts Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to investigate, determine the individual’s immigration status, and forward their conclusion to the relevant ICE field office. If ICE decides to take action, a detainer is issued to the law enforcement agency requesting that the individual be detained for up to 48 hours so that ICE can assume custody.

Research has found that Secure Communities does not increase public safety, as predicted. Given a lack of effectiveness, should Secure Communities be abandoned? My answer is unequivocally “yes.” In this essay, I offer seven reasons why: (1) The assumptions upon which Secure Communities was founded are flawed; (2) Secure Communities is unnecessary; (3) Secure Communities does not target the right offenders; (4) Local law enforcement officials have not embraced Secure Communities; (5) Secure Communities creates insecure communities; (6) Secure Communities may increase instances of racial profiling and pretextual arrests; and (7) Secure Communities is associated with significant human costs.

Keywords: immigration, policing, crime

Suggested Citation

Kubrin, Charis, 7 Reasons to Abandon the Secure Communities Program (September 6, 2014). Kubrin, Charis E. In Press. 7 Reasons to Abandon the Secure Communities Program. Criminology & Public Policy. DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12086., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2492655

Charis Kubrin (Contact Author)

University of California, Irvine ( email )

Department of Criminiology, Law and Society
Social Ecology II, Rm 3379
Irvine, CA 62697-3125
United States

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