Secure communities

Latino Immigrant Communities Acknowledge Changes on Deportation Orders, But Call on President Obama to Terminate “(In) Secure Communities” Program.
“It is regretful that over a million families had to be separated before the President used the authority he was given since day one of his administration”
Chicago, IL – On Thursday, August 18, the Obama Administration announced its decision to change the way in which existing deportation orders are carried out. From now on, it would allow immigrants, whose only infraction to the law has been to reside, work and pay taxes in the U.S. without a visa, to remain in the U.S. In response to this announcement, leaders of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC) had the following reactions:
“With this decision President Obama has demonstrated that he does indeed have the discretionary power to enforce the law, which Latin American and Caribbean immigrant organizations have urged President Obama to use in order to help hard-working and law- abiding immigrants who have been victims of an obsolete, inhumane and wasteful immigration law,” stated Angela Sanbrano, NALACC’s board President.
“We urge the Obama Administration to carry out an education campaign to inform the public about the details of these new changes,” stated Juvencio Rocha Peralta, President of the Mexicans Association of North Carolina, and NALACC’s board Vice-president. “Announcements of this sort tend to be misused by unscrupulous individuals to confuse and exploit those immigrants who are desperate to get immigration relief and a path to permanent residency status,” added Mr. Rocha Peralta. “Furthermore, we call on the Department of Justice to prosecute to the full extent of the law any person who exploits and abuses immigrant communities,” concluded Mr. Rocha Peralta.
“Although yesterday’s announcement is a positive change, it is only a first and small step of many that President Obama must take on immigration policy enforcement,” stated Patricia Montes, Centro Presente’s Executive Director and NALACC’s board member. “Most importantly, we continue to urge
President Obama to put a definitive end to the erroneously called ‘Secure Communities” or “S-Comm” program,” continued Ms. Montes. “By terminating S-Comm, millions of hard-working and law-abiding immigrants would not end up in the deportation pipeline,” concluded Ms. Montes.
“As President Obama’s spoke person said yesterday, the U.S. federal government does not have infinite resources to ensure rigorous application of all the laws of the land,” declared Oscar Chacon, NALACC’s Executive Director. “We definitely agree with this statement and encourage the Obama Administration to use its limited resources to enforce laws that would potentially benefit wide segments of the population,” added Mr. Chacon. “To continue to spend scarce resources in the enforcement of laws that are known to be obsolete, inhumane and wasteful, such as the current U.S. immigration law, would be a true disservice to all U.S. taxpayers,” concluded Mr. Chacon.