Local, state and national lawmakers gathered at the Los Angeles City Hall to call on Governer Jerry Brown to suspend the Secure Communities Program in California.
Congressmembers Xavier Becerra, Judy Chu and Lucille Roybal-Allard, along with councilmembers Jan Perry and Bernard Parks argued that the Department of Homeland Security’s program is doing more harm than good. Secure Communities requires local law enforcement to forward the fingerprints of arrestees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The lawmakers say Secure Communities is creating mistrust between immigrants and the police. This, in turn, is discouraging many witnesses and victims from reporting crime in their communities. Caro Rolando files this report from Los Angeles.