Challenging Jerry Brown on Secure Communities

SAN FRANCISCO DAY LABORERS, DOMESTIC WORKERS, AND IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES FACE OFF WITH ATTORNEY GENERAL JERRY BROWN OVER PROGRAM WHICH REQUIRES LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO REPORT ALL THOSE ARRESTED TO IMMIGRATION.
 
On Thursday, July 29, 2010, at 11 am, at the State Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave., in San Francisco, dozens of immigrant workers, elected officials, and community leaders will call on Attorney General Jerry Brown to authorize San Francisco to opt-out, or not participate, in an Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE) program called "Secure Communities," or "S-COMM," which causes state and local law enforcement to automatically and immediately provide information to ICE of anybody arrested, regardless of the severity of the charges.
 
In April 2009, the California Department of Justice signed an agreement with ICE, which activated California's participation in the program.  In public statements, ICE has stated that S-COMM is a voluntary program and that local agencies are free to opt-out or decide not to participate.
 
However, when San Francisco Sheriff Hennessy communicated to Attorney General Jerry Brown that San Francisco wished to opt-out of the program, and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution stating this, Attorney General Brown declined San Francisco's request, because Brown thinks "this program serves both public safety and the interest of justice."
 
"Jerry Brown claims to have the support of Latino and immigrant communities in his bid for Governor,"  states Renee Saucedo, a lawyer with La Raza Centro Legal.  "We will not support any elected official who promotes policies that further encourage deportations and the separation of immigrant families."
 
Immigrant rights, and civil rights organizations, including the Asian Law Caucus, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and the Central American Resource Center, oppose the S-COMM program because the majority of those reported to ICE under the program were charged with minor crimes.  Furthermore, S-COMM thwarts San Francisco's Sanctuary Law, and it leads to racial profiling by local law enforcement.
 
Beatriz Herrera, an organizer with People Organizing to Win Employment Rights (POWER) says, "We are making this demand of Jerry Brown today, because it is the day the new anti-immigrant law in Arizona is supposed to go into effect."  "S-COMM will lead to the same kind of racial profiling and discrimination that the Arizona law causes."
 
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:
 
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano
Supervisor Eric Mar
Supervisor David Campos
Tim Paulson, Executive Director, SF Labor Council
Angela Chan, Asian Law Caucus and SF Police Commission
Immigrant workers impacted by S-COMM

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