Secure Communities: Leadership and Contact Information

Credentials for Gregory J. Archambeault, Assistant Director for Secure Communities and Enforcement

Gregory J. Archambeault

Assistant Director for Secure Communities and Enforcement

Gregory J. Archambeault is the assistant director (AD) for the Secure Communities and Enforcement Division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in Washington, DC. He is responsible for several major ICE initiatives, including the National Fugitive Operations Program, Criminal Alien Program, the 287(g) Program and the Secure Communities Program.

Mr. Archambeault has more than 23 years of law enforcement experience. In 1987, he began his law enforcement career in San Diego, first working as a co-op student with the former U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS); and in 1988, becoming a special agent. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Mr. Archambeault served in the INS attaché offices in Athens, Greece, and New Delhi, India, where he served as a liaison to law enforcement agencies and conducted training. He also managed immigration related enforcement activities in cooperation with foreign government officials.

Prior to joining the headquarters (HQ) ICE Office of Detention & Removal Operations (DRO), Mr. Archambeault was a member of the ICE Office of Investigations (OI), where he served as a senior special agent, supervisory special agent and as resident agent in charge. During his time at OI he was responsible for the management oversight of many complex criminal investigations related to violations of immigration and customs laws. Investigations ranged from alien smuggling and worksite enforcement to child exploitation and arms and strategy technology cases.

Mr. Archambeault joined HQ ICE DRO (currently, the Office Enforcement and Removal Operations) as the unit chief for the National Fugitive Operations Program in 2008. He was then appointed to the Senior Executive Service as the deputy assistant director for the Criminal Alien Division, where he was responsible for strategic planning, policy development and the deployment of resources to effectively identify, arrest and remove criminal aliens found at-large in the United States and incarcerated in federal, state and local jails and prisons.

Mr. Archambeault received a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration from San Diego State University.

How to Contact Secure Communities

To contact the Secure Communities program office, please call (202) 732-3900. For media inquiries about Secure Communities, contact ICE's Office of Public Affairs at (202) 732-4242.

To report allegations of racial profiling, due process violations, or other possible violations of civil rights or civil liberties related to Secure Communities, all complaints should be filed with the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties complaint intake website.

Secure Communities: Briefing Materials for State and Local Law Enforcement

Concerns about the civil rights and civil liberties of individuals in communities where there is significant immigration enforcement activity are not unique to the Secure Communities initiative. The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are creating a series of training /awareness briefings designed primarily for use by front line state and local law enforcement agency personnel during daily muster/roll call briefings. The videos and other tools will address eight categories of civil rights and civil liberties issues and topics of importance.

Project Goals:

·                             To provide actionable information to state and local law enforcement about the civil rights and civil liberties issues that may arise when ICE begins using a federal information sharing capability through Secure Communities in their jurisdictions.

·                             To increase the transparency of the Department's active commitment to     protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of all persons affected by DHS activities and programs.

The training/briefing materials are offered as a series of short videos, discussion guides with references to web-based resources for additional information (when available), and job aids.

Materials Currently Available on the ICE Website:

These training /briefing materials include a series of modules; each module contains a short viewable video and related materials such as fact sheets, discussion guides, web-based resources, and job aids. Although the modules will cover all of the topics noted below and are designed to be presented as a series, law enforcement agencies may also present the materials in a variety of combinations to suit the needs of individual jurisdictions.

The materials are designed for two distinct audiences: front line officers and law enforcement leadership (noted as the “Commander's packets”).

Current Materials

Commander's Packet

·                             DHS Plan to Provide Training to State and Local Law Enforcement in the Secure Communities Program  

·                             Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Complaint Form (In English and Spanish. Forms are also available in seven other languages).

·                             Secure Communities Complaints Protocol

·                             ICE Detainer Form

·                             Prosecutorial Discretion Memo: Certain Victims, Witnesses, and Plaintiffs

·                             Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion Consistent with the Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities of the Agency for the Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Aliens

Topics Under Development for Future Law Enforcement Briefings

·                             Working with Non-English Speakers

·                             Special Immigration Law Protections for Crime Victims

·                             Responsibility under the Violence Against Women Act

·                             When to Notify Foreign Consuls

·                             ICE Detainers (ICE request to local jails to hold certain aliens up to 48 hours)

·                             Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Complaints

·                             Avoiding Racial and Ethnic Profiling

Secure Communities: Rights and Liberties Protection

Civil Rights and Liberties

Secure Communities reduces opportunities for racial or ethnic profiling because all people booked into jails are fingerprinted. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and DHS' Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) are currently implementing additional safeguards to further protect the program from those who may seek to use it improperly.

Several initiatives to achieve these goals are underway:

·                             In order to identify jurisdictions that may be making improper arrests that could result in identification of aliens through Secure Communities, ICE and CRCL have retained a leading statistician who is examining data for each jurisdiction where Secure Communities is activated, comparing data for aliens identified by the program to relevant arrest-rate data, and identifying any indications of racial profiling. Statistical outliers will be subject to an in-depth analysis. This analysis will take place four times per year to ensure consistent monitoring, and the assessments will be shared quarterly with the Department of Justice. Statistical outliers in local jurisdictions will be subject to an in-depth analysis and DHS and ICE will take appropriate steps to resolve any issues.

·                             To prevent and address possible abuses of Secure Communities, ICE and CRCL are working together to develop a new training program for state and local law enforcement agencies in jurisdictions where Secure Communities is activated. These training materials are designed to reduce confusion regarding Secure Communities and help ensure that the program is not misused.

·                             ICE has revised the detainer from ICE submits to local jurisdictions to emphasize the longstanding guidance that state and local authorities are not to detain an individual for more than 48 hours. The form also requires local law enforcement to provide arrestees with a copy, which has a number to call if they believe their civil rights have been violated.

·                             DHS and ICE take allegations of racial profiling and other complaints relating to civil rights and civil liberties violations very seriously. Formal allegations are referred to CRCL, which is tasked with guarding against violations in DHS programs. CRCL notifies the Department of Justice, which has jurisdiction to investigate violations of civil rights by state and local officers of all investigations undertaken. ICE fully supports all Department of Justice or CRCL investigations, including by taking action to ensure witnesses and complainants are able to remain in the United States.