New York Suspends Obama’s Anti-Immigrant Law

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he would suspend that state’s participation in the immigrant hunting operation known as “Secure Communities.” While the program is ostensibly set to target “only” criminals, it doesn’t.

We wrote previously about how this program also targeted victims of domestic violence, and Cuomo’s press release noted that it’s affected how witnesses cooperate with law enforcement. A snippet of the press release is below:

Albany, NY (June 1, 2011)
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York State will suspend participation in the federal Secure Communities Program to review the mounting evidence that the program is not meeting its stated goal and has serious consequences for witnesses, victims of crime and law enforcement.

The goal as stated by the federal government was to deport serious felons, and, based on evidence to date, it appears the program in New York is failing in this regard and is actually undermining law enforcement. Because of similar concerns, the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is investigating the program.

“There are concerns about the implementation of the program as well as its impact on families, immigrant communities and law enforcement in New York,” Governor Cuomo said. “As a result, New York is suspending its participation in the program.”

In a letter to DHS, Governor Cuomo’s administration stated that information produced thus far has called into question – at both the federal and state levels – the implementation and intended effect of the Secure Communities program.

Governor Cuomo’s office has also received complaints stating that the goals of the program were not being met. The questions raised are further aggravated by inconsistent statements by DHS and a failure to disclose basic information about the program…

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