Judge orders release of key immigration enforcement document

October 26, 2011

A federal judge in New York has ordered the government to release the document that will explain the mandate for the Secure Communities program. US District Judge Shira Scheindlin has compelled the government to hand over the document to a number of civil rights and immigrant advocate groups, who appealed for its disclosure in a Freedom of Information Act request, by November 1.
Judge Scheindlin said that the analysis in the memo - which has come to be known as the 'October 2 Memorandum' - is crucial to explaining why Secure Communities was made compulsory for states and municipalities. She said it "seems to be the only rationale that the agency could have relied upon and adopted as the legal basis for the policy."

Secure Communities had originally been optional until at least the beginning of 2010, but became mandatory by the end of that year. The program compels local law enforcement to share finger prints of detainees with federal authorities, but has been criticized by civil rights groups for making immigrants reluctant to report crime, out of fear of deportation.

The groups that campaigned for the release said that the order will help "shine light on a program plagued with secrecy and lies." Several states have objected to participating in the scheme - with some even trying to opt out - on the grounds that immigration is a federal and not a state responsibility.