S-Comm Under Fire in New Bedford – South Coast Today
Under the Se Communities program, fingerprints taken by local police are automatically sent to federal immigration authorities. If there is a match, police are authorized to hold the suspect for an extra 48 hours, not including weekends. The program is currently active in Suffolk County and will go into effect throughout the state in 2013. “The country has to have rules and we have to have laws that we follow,” Hodgson said. “If you think those laws are unfair, then change the laws.” Critics say Se Communities alienates immigrants from police and has resulted in a swell of deportation cases of otherwise law-abiding people who have lived in the country for decades. “I see it every day from a human perspective,” said defense attorney Rachel Self. “It’s a rare day that I have that a true criminal winds up actually being picked up in this.”