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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2010
5:53 PM

CONTACT: National Day Laborer Organizing Network

Chris Newman (213) 380-2785, newman@ndlon.org

DHS Issues Report on Its Disgraced 287(g) Program NDLON responds: "It Should Be ENDED not MENDED"

LOS ANGELES - April 2 - Today, the Department of Homeland Security released a report by the Office of the Inspector General entitled "The Performance of 287(g) Agreements.    A copy of the report is available here.    Last year, Over 500 civil rights organizations implored President Obama to end the flawed 287(g) program.  Additionally, he Congressional Hispanic Caucus sent a strongly worded letter to the President calling for its complete termination.

Since then, Department of Homeland Security has come under fire for misrepresenting its emphasis on identifying high-risk immigrants guilty of serious criminal offenses.  The former ICE official in charge of 287(g) under the Bush administration was quoted saying about the program, "If you don't have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he's illegal, we can make him disappear."   Last week, the immigrant rights community was shocked to discover that ICE encourages deportation of non-criminal immigrants through apparent use of quotas. 

The following is a statement of Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network:

"We are baffled by a report that describes the 287g program's irreparable flaws without prescribing its termination.  The fact that the 287(g) program is an acknowledged failure and it has not yet been ended raises serious doubts about the current administration's willingness to reform immigration law.   The National Day Laborer Organizing Network has called for the termination of 287(g) and the "Secure Communities" program, which is essentially a rebranded version of the same failed program.    There is no evidence these programs serve the nation's interest, but there is indisputable proof that they have been used to violate civil rights of immigrants and non-immigrants alike.   Moreover, police chiefs throughout the country have stated that these programs actually endanger the public by discouraging community policing.    The fact that the federal government allocates 68 million dollars for the 287(g) program is emblematic of the broken immigration system we are currently living with."
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