The Untold Costs of Secure Communities
Editorial by Katherine Beckett and Heather Evans
In recent years, the federal government has dramatically increased its efforts to apprehend noncitizens through programs such as Secure Communities. These programs are touted by the Im-migration and Customs En-forcement (ICE) agency as an efficient means of ensuring that noncitizens who have committed serious crimes are targeted for deportation. But a number of localities have limited their involvement in these programs, and many more are considering doing the same. Our research explores the consequences of these policies, and helps ex-plain why many localities are electing to limit the circumstances in which they honor ICE detainers. […]