Despite Official Opposition, Feds to Force S-Comm Deportation Program Activation in DC on Tuesday June 5th, Council Plans Protections to Ensure Bright Line Between Law Enforcement and Wrongful Immigration Policy

What: Press Conference Announcing City Council Action in Response to Federal Announcement to Activate the S-Comm 
           Deportation Program

When: MONDAY June 4th, 2012 at  11:00 am

Where: Wilson Building 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 

Who: Councilmember Mendelson (invited), Councilmember Graham, Councilmember Barry, Mayor Vincent Gray (invited), Roxana Olivas, Director of Mayor’s Office of Latino Affairs, and concerned community members.

In what has become a pattern of total disregard for local decision-making, the federal government plans to activate the controversial “Se Communities” deportation program in the District Tuesday, June 5th. 

In 2010 Washington, DC became the first local jurisdiction in the country to officially opt-out of S-Comm when the program was still voluntary. In response to growing criticism, the federal government cancelled local contracts governing the program and made it mandatory. The District along with the Governors of Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and numerous other cities opposed the program because it damages trust between local police and the community, deters witnesses and crime victims from reporting crimes for fear of deportation. 

Last fall Mayor Vincent Gray issued an Executive Order to strengthen protections for the immigrant community and on Tuesday the DC Council will vote on the Immigration Detainer Compliance Act which aims to mitigate some of the harm of the “Se Communities” deportation program. Similar legislation has already been enacted in Cook County, Illinois; Santa Clara and San Francisco, California; the state of Connecticut and others.