Concerns for undocumented as deportations skyrocket

Concerns have been raised that recent Obama administration immigration efforts put many undocumented Irish people in more danger of deportation than ever before, with a record 393,000 people deported last year, up a quarter on the figure from 2007.Though the administration denies that any quotas are being set, saying it is merely “prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens that threaten public and national security,” others argue it’s a numbers game, pu00re and simple. To date, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has removed a record 109,700 criminal aliens in the fiscal year 2011.

One core element of the deportations strategy has been the Secure Communities program, which many argue has persecuted innocent, hardworking immigrants, across all ethnically.Secure Communities requires that the fingerprints of every person held in local or county jails are sent to the Department of Homeland Security and compared with fingerprints in their files. If the person is in the country illegally, or is not a citizen and has a criminal record, they may then be deported.

Though Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick recently rejected the program [following his counterparts in New York State and Illinois], the government will attempt to force all non-compliant states to roll out Secure Communities by 2013.Activists say the program, which currently operates in 42 states, is deeply flawed. Since November 2008, 53% of people deported under Secure Communities were not criminal offenders, leading to fears that police will become de facto ICE agents.

A spokesperson for the Boston Irish Group, which has been to the fore on the undocumented issue in recent times, said many Irish could be in greater peril than they think.“In the past few years the number of undocumented Irish being deported has increased dramatically,” he said. “The community feels that if they ignore the issue, it might go away. But it’s only a matter of time before the problem is at their door.”

He appealed for a political heavyweight to stick his or her head above the parapet and get to work on the undocumented issue, which has lost all momentum since the optimistic days of 2006.“It would be a great time for a champion to step forward and start the process again,” he said. “We need someone who is willing to pick the issue up, get the ball rolling, and take charge. There are approximately 12 million ‘illegals’ in the US, a lot of whom want to come out from the shadows and contribute to society.”

Immigration, Detention and US Citizenship Counselor at the Irish Pastoral Centre in Quincy, MA, Kieran C. O'Sullivan, said that the undocumented problem is only getting worse.“Some detentions occur after minor offenses often relating to alcohol abuse, and other detentions occur without any aggravating factors at all,” O’Sullivan said. “This happens despite the fact that many Irish have strong roots here. Because of enhanced enforcement efforts, the undocumented are forced to live an underground life, hoping they will not get caught up in any large scale ICE raids.”

ICE recently acknowledged that changes to Secure Communities are necessary, issuing a memo giving prosecutors and ICE agents discretion to drop cases against victims of crimes, or students brought to the US illegally as children. It has also vowed to reconsider whether those detained for minor violations should be deported.

ICE staff, however, are said to be up in arms over the proposals; their main union has accused President Obama of being too soft on immigration, despite the record numbers being shown the door.In May alone, an ICE seven-day nationwide cross-check operation led to the arrest of more than 2,400 convicted criminal aliens and immigration fugitives.