Protesters Rally In San Francisco, Sacramento Against Immigration Screening
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) --- Day laborers and domestic workers rallied in San Francisco Monday and will do so Tuesday at the state capitol in opposition to the federal government's Secure Communities program.
KCBS' Doug Sovern Reports:
Protesters at the San Francisco rally said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Secure Communities program was billed as an optional system to help deport hardened criminals, but that's not the way it's working. Critics say instead it's catching domestic violence victims and scaring immigrants into not reporting crimes to police for fear of being deported themselves.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano is trying to pass a bill that would let California's counties opt out of the Secure Community program, even though ICE officials say that's not legal. Ammiano district director Kimberly Alvarenga said ultimately the courts may have to decide.
"We should have the autonomy to decide what we want to do around an immigration policy," she said.
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