Latino organizations in the Salem area are working for changes in the application of federal Immigration programs here. The groups hope their efforts will improve the effectiveness of law enforcement and also show respect for the humanity of area immigrants.
Briefly, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, (ICE) was formed after the events of September 11, 2001, and made a branch of the US Department of Homeland Security. Secure Communities, or SCOMM, is a component within ICE. Mano a Mano, the oldest Latino-led organization in Salem and CAUSA Oregon, an immigrant rights coalition, object to local implementation of some of SCOMM’s policies because, when fully complied with by local police and sheriff departments, they result in Hispanic residents who have no driver’s license or government-issued I.D. being arrested and deported after small traffic violations or other minor offenses.
Francisco Lopez, executive director of CAUSA, says Secure Communities enforcement in areas of Marion County mean a Latino stopped for any traffic offense without a license or ID card can be taken into custody. This is not the case in Portland, Woodburn and Cornelius, where alternate IDs are accepted, and makes the application of guidelines unequal across Oregon. The charge brought against such individuals is, “failure to carry or present an ID.”
While local jurisdictions have long sent fingerprints of jailed persons to the FBI, SCOMM causes the FBI to forward this data to Immigration. Lopez asserts that the practice is unfair because many times individuals have no charge against them other than their failure to carry or present ID, which in the U.S. is not a crime. Levi Herrera of Mano a Mano is further concerned that SCOMM directives have resulted in racial profiling and decreased community willingness to cooperate with police.
If Immigration’s database reveals an individual to be unlawfully present in the United States he or she is eventually deported. Local advocates cite twelve cases where Marion County residents with no criminal record but lacking ID were deported in 2011, leaving behind children who are U.S. citizens without support, causing some to become homeless.
Sheriff’s departments maintain that deported individuals did actually commit a crime, and, according to SCOMM advocates, the program is meant primarily to remove undocumented individuals who have committed serious crimes. However, critics like Herrera say it has led to the removal of hundreds of thousands of Hispanics across the nation who were detained only for minor offenses. CAUSA believes that law enforcement should focus on addressing crimes of violence and activities that pose active threats to residents, rather than on undocumented immigrants.
The Secure Communities program has drawn controversy even within law enforcement agencies. Sheriff Mark Curran of Lake County, IL, has said, “The program has diverted my department from more serious law enforcement responsibilities. More than half the people arrested from Lake County under this program have no criminal convictions.”
Herrera cautions that in Marion County, SCOMM has resulted in creating fear of contacting police among immigrants, even those who are victims of or witnesses to a crime. Mano a Mano research shows that families of those removed have experienced hunger and lost their homes; in many cases both the remaining parent and children who are U.S. citizens have fallen into deep depression and experience high levels of stress that manifests itself in behavioral or health problems.
Mano a Mano’s position is that local jurisdictions should have the choice to opt out of the program. The organization is in communication with our local County Sheriff’s office regarding the issue.
Both Lopez and Herrera assert that people with no criminal record or criminal involvement should not be jailed merely because they are Hispanic and suspected to be undocumented. They are convinced that the limited benefits of SCOMM in Marion County are far outweighed by the negative impact it has on the ability of law enforcement to maintain public safety, as well as the negative impact the program has on individuals of the immigrant community.
“We need to be concerned about the safety of our residents first, regardless of their immigration status,” Lopez says. “Oregon should be a state that cares about all of its people, and respects them equally.”
