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Title: Secure Communities: Isaura's Story
Isaura Garcia ACLU Client speaking: "The reason I called 911 was because I needed a shelter for me and my baby. After my boyriend kicked
me out of the house. What the police came to me they saw me crying they asked me why
I was crying. I told them in Spanish he pushed me." Jennie Pasquarella ACLU Staff Attorney
speaking: "And one of the officers insist that she only speak in English and as a result
of that she was not able fully communicate that prior to the police arriving the boyfriend
had pushed her, had hit her and she had called 911 for her own safety, and for the safety
of her child. In the end the police finally decided that rather than arresting her boyfriend
who was the abuser they arrested her." Isaura speaking: " I was the victim and they took
me to jail and they put me in deportation proceedings." Jennie speaking:" At the moment
she was booked into police custody her finger prints were shared with Immigration and Immigration
put a Immigration detainer on her. The charges were dropped immediately but because of the
Immigration hold because of Secure Communities she was ultimately transferred to Immigration
and placed in deportation proceedings." Secure Communities is a federal program that partners
local police with federal immigration authorities. Any time an individual is booked in a participating
jail, their fingerprints are sent through Immigration and Customs Enforcement database.
Jennie speaking: "The ACLU is opposed to Secure Communities because it jeopardizes
Jennie speaking: " the ACLU is opposed to Secure Communities because it jeopardizes
public safety it makes us all less secure and the reason for that is even though the
federal government says that Secure Communities is targeting criminal aliens. The reality
is that the majority of people who are targeted and caught up in this program are people like
Isaura who have not committed any crimes. Even like Isaura they are victims of crimes.
And as the result of Secure Communities they are being identified for deportation and deported. The
message that that sends to our communities is fear the police." Isaura speaking:" When
I thought the United States protects the victims of crimes... or domestic violence.. but in
my case it's different." Jennie speaking: "In response to Secure Communities being rolled
out nationwide many states across the country have revolted and said we don't want this
in our state. We're also calling as the ACLU for the administration to immediately halt
this program to review it and to insure that it stops having the negative affects on our
communities that we believe it's happening." To take action go to: www.aclu.org/stopscomm