DC Plans Fingerprint Program to Target Illegal Aliens

WASHINGTON - More than a hundred people showed up at a D.C. City Council hearing Friday in hopes of stopping a new program targeting criminal illegal aliens. It’s called "Secure Communities" and is expected to be in place nationwide by 2013.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier has expressed support for the program, which is designed to identify people in the U.S. illegally through their fingerprints. But opponents say it violates civil liberties and could plunge police cooperation to a new low.

As it stands now, D.C. Police do not ask anyone arrested in the city about their immigration status. It’s been that way for years.

But a new program, now under consideration, the fingerprints of people arrested for certain crimes would be shared not only with the FBI but with Immigration as well. It is a policy many in the Latino community find deeply troubling.

But at a city council hearing Friday Chief Lanier used the murder of a little boy as an example of how “Secure Communities” would work to prevent violence.

On a Saturday night last November, nine-year-old Oscar Fuentes was shot and killed as he stood inside the front door of his family’s apartment. The bullet, police say, was fired in anger buy a man looking to rob people in the building.

"In that particular case, Said Chief Lanier, “the person who murdered Oscar Fuentes, Mr. Pena, had seven prior arrests in the District of Columbia and was here illegally, had we had Secure Communities Oscar Fuentes would still be alive."

Chief Lanier says the Feds want the program in place by 2013, so she’s determined to have the District's policy written and ready to go by then.

Lanier said, "There is certainly a balance between making people uncomfortable in any part of our community and then ignoring the fact we have people here we may be able to take off the streets before they commit a violent crime."

Not one person who testified at the hearing was in favor of the program, for a variety of reasons. Notably, police work.

"If the people are going to be afraid of interacting with the police because of "Secure Communities,"
said Ron Hampton, Executive Director of the Black Police Officers Association, “making arrests, domestic violence and other misdemeanor arrests and fingerprints sent to ICE, then they are going to be less inclined to come out and work with us."

Johnny Barnes with the ACLU says through an executive order it’s illegal for the District to share immigration information with the Federal Government

"It says it’s the policy and practice of the District of Columbia not to partner with the federal government on immigration enforcement, very clear," said Barnes.

Chief Lanier says she is open to hearing from anyone in the community on how the policy will be crafted before it goes into effect.