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An examination of millions of deportation records since the federal government’s launch of Secure Communities shows the program hasn’t increased the removal of its targets: non-citizens who have committed crimes other than minor violations.
This conclusion is in a large, new report by the Syracuse-based Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, which calls Secure Communities a “massive government surveillance program.”
The number of such individuals with serious criminal records deported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has actually declined over the last four years, the nonprofit says.
Secure Communities began as a test pilot in two Texas counties–Dallas County and Harris County — about seven years ago during the administration of President Bush. It has now expanded across the nation.
The most serious charge for fully half of the total was an immigration or traffic violation, TRAC says in its report this morning. TRAC bases its analysis on records by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.
It also found that only 12 percent of all deportees committed what the federal government categorizes as a serious or “Level 1″ offense, in fiscal year 2013.
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