In a survey conducted by Wind of the Spirit [Viento del Espíritu], a nonprofit organization that aims to help immigrants and non-immigrants come to know each other, immigrant residents of Morristown, New Jersey expressed feelings of fear and mistrust when asked about the potential cooperation between police and immigration authorities if the Secure Communities program goes into effect.
The survey results showed that residents are afraid to report a crime for fear that getting involved with authorities could put them or others at risk of getting deported.
Eighty-eight percent of the respondents said they would cooperate with authorities if they could be certain that they would not become the target of immigration officials. Eighty-four percent said they did not believe that collaboration between police and immigration authorities improves the safety of the community, and 28.5 percent said they did not report a crime in the past for fear of police.
Out of the 200 people that were interviewed, 50 were women victims of domestic violence, and 30 of those women are living at a shelter in Morris County.
Melissa Lozano, a member of Viento del Espíritu and one of the 20 pollsters, said that she was struck by the respondents' "lack of awareness of the Secure Communities program."
"At first, everyone told me they thought the program was a good idea, but they rejected it when I explained to them what the program entailed," she added.
Secure Communities is a program currently in effect in 20 states, where local police connect with immigration authorities via a database. Federal authorities plan to implement the program nationwide in 2013.
For Eric Carreto, one of the people interviewed, the common denominator was people's fear of reporting a crime to the police. "Unless you have papers, nobody wants to get involved with the police because they're afraid they'll end up in the hands of immigration authorities," he said.
Omar Vargas, a Colombian who was interviewed, said, "After understanding what the Secure Communities program implies, nobody is going to report a crime to the police."
As stated on the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement website: Secure Communities is a "Comprehensive Plan to Identify and Remove Criminal Aliens (Secure Communities) is working with ICE senior leadership and offices, as well as the broader law enforcement community, to better identify criminal aliens, prioritize enforcement actions on those posing the greatest threat to public safety, and transform the entire criminal alien enforcement process. Through improved technology, continual data analysis, and timely information sharing with a broad range of law enforcement agency (LEA) partners, we are helping to protect communities across the country."
