On Tuesday the Santa Cruz County Jail joined the controversial Secure Communities initiative sponsored by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in which the fingerprints of inmates are sent to the federal ICE database. If a match is identified, the detainees can be held for up to 48 hours until deportation proceedings can be launched against them.
The initiative is controversial and is being sharply condemned by immigrant community leaders. In neighboring Santa Clara County, community activists are urging the county to opt out of the initiative, saying that it has all the hallmarks of Arizona’s recent anti-immigrant legislation. Some have threatened to withdraw their support for Attorney General Jerry Brown in the upcoming gubernatorial election because of his support for the program.
Between May 2009 and June 2010, 14,823 people were deported to Mexico. Of these, 4,128 had committed serious crimes, while 3,875—26 percent—had not.
