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