[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 15, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H4196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 OPPOSE THE SECURE COMMUNITIES PROGRAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Chu) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. CHU. I rise today in strong opposition to the Secure Communities 
program. I am for the stated goals of the Secured Communities program. 
Anyone who is undocumented in this country and who has been convicted 
of a serious violent offense should be removed from this country, 
period. But I can't support the program because of the significant 
evidence that Secure Communities is failing to achieve its goal.
  When you look at the numbers, nearly half of the undocumented 
individuals from my home county of Los Angeles who have been taken into 
custody through this program have not committed or been convicted of a 
serious violent offense, and that is a problem.
  Take the story of Isaura Garcia, a 20-year-old who suffered three 
turbulent years of abuse and beatings at the hands of her boyfriend. In 
February, she finally found the courage to call 911 for help. Earlier 
that day, her boy friend, Ricardo, had thrown Isaura and their 1-year-
old daughter out of their apartment. When she came back to the house to 
get her things, Ricardo showed up and it began again. He started 
throwing things at her, and when she tried to protect herself and her 
child she accidentally scratched his neck.
  After the 911 call, the police showed up and put her boyfriend in 
cuffs, but after they saw the scratches, they took them off of him and 
put them on Isaura. Shocked at what was happening, she fainted. At the 
hospital, doctors found bruises covering her body from the weeks and 
years of abuse. Despite being identified by a doctor as a victim of 
domestic violence, she had been arrested as the abuser.
  After the arrest, Isaura landed in the L.A. County jail, which was 
participating in the Secure Communities program. Because of this 
program, she was fingerprinted and found to be here in an undocumented 
way. It was too late. Before she knew it, she was sent to an 
immigration detention center in Santa Ana.
  It is stories like Isaura's that are causing the DHS inspector 
general to investigate the Secure Communities program. Washington 
State, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., refused to join Secure 
Communities. New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts are suspending their 
participation in this program, and California is discussing this as 
well.
  But that is only a first step. The concerns about Secure Communities 
must be properly and permanently addressed. This is first and foremost 
about public safety. The people on the front lines of this program, our 
police officers, have expressed serious concerns about its 
implementation. LAPD Chief Beck has noted that the program is causing a 
breach of trust between the LAPD and our immigrant communities, 
hindering our officers' duties to protect and serve all of our 
residents. And the numerous reports of domestic violence victims being 
detained through this program are simply unacceptable. If a program is 
causing a victim of violence to fear reaching out for help, then that 
program is causing more harm than good.
  Secure Communities has undermined our police departments' mission of 
protecting the public, it has weakened protections against racial 
profiling, and it will have a chilling effect on immigrants' 
willingness to report crimes or provide useful information to the 
police.
  We must take a long, hard look at the negative effects of Secure 
Communities. We must allow States to opt out of the program. We must 
protect the safety and welfare of all our residents and truly ensure 
that we will have safer, more secure communities.

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