1. NY can't opt out of Sec. Comm.
2. Bill would block amnesty
3. Sen. holds DREAM Act hearing
4. Judge blocks parts of IN law
5. SC Gov. to sign bill today

1.
NY Can't Opt Out of Fingerprint Sharing With Feds: Officials
By Mirela Iverac
WNYC, June 27, 2011

Fingerprints taken at the local level will continue to be shared with the Department of Homeland Security as part of a controversial federal immigration program despite Governor Andrew Cuomo's calls to end the practice, according to federal agencies.

Cuomo withdrew New York from the so-called Secure Communities program on June 1 after "mounting evidence" that it failed its stated goal of deporting serious felons, he said in a statement. By then 31 counties had become a part of the program.

But Gillian Christensen, a spokeswoman for ICE, an investigative arm of DHS, said that counties that activated Secure Communities remain a part of it, even if a state, like New York has, suspends the program.

"Secure Communities is fundamentally an information sharing partnership between federal agencies," she said, referring to the FBI and DHS, and therefore "state and local jurisdictions cannot opt out from the program."

"The United States government has determined that a jurisdiction cannot choose to have the fingerprints it submits to the federal government processed only for criminal history checks," Christensen added. That means the fingerprints, after local law enforcement agencies submit them to the FBI, will also be shared with DHS and checked against immigration database.

Assistant director of the FBI, Dan Roberts, told WNYC that the agency will be "continuing on with the previous mode of sharing" fingerprints until told otherwise. Ultimately, he said, whether the program changes is not up to his agency.

"There are discussion at the highest levels of the U.S. government about that right now, including the Secretary of DHS and the Attorney General of the United States, the Department of Justice," Roberts said. "In both of those policy discussions, no matter which way it goes on this, will be decided at that level and certainly not at my level and certainly not even at the FBI itself."
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http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2011/jun/27/secure-communities/

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2.
Bill would freeze Obama's power to grant illegals amnesty
By Jordy Yager
The Hill (DC), June 25, 2011

The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is crafting a bill that would temporarily freeze the Obama administration’s power to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.

The measure is in response to a memo issued by the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week that approved a broader breadth of discretion for agency officials when considering whether to deport someone through the Secure Communities program.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who is sponsoring the legislation, blasted the memo. He said that under the new guidelines ICE agents could defer the deportations of “millions of deportable illegal and criminal immigrants.”

“The Obama administration cannot continue to pick and choose which laws it will enforce,” said Smith in a statement. “It is outrageous that they have put illegal immigrants and their liberal political base ahead of the American people.”

Smith’s bill is expected to be introduced soon, according to a committee aide.

The ICE memo comes in the wake of recent attempts by President Obama to push forward with a revamping of the country’s immigration laws. Republicans on Capitol Hill have broadly indicated their opposition to the Democrat-led efforts, with some calling for a more secure U.S.-Mexico border before immigration talks can begin. Immigration reform is widely regarded as having little chance of passing in the divided 112th Congress.

The Secure Communities program allows for ICE to check the immigration status of people arrested by law enforcement agencies throughout the country by sharing a fingerprint database. Critics of the program say that it focuses on deporting people for minor offenses, such as traffic violations, and in some cases breaks families apart.

Under the guidelines set forward by the ICE memo, agents could opt to defer on a case-by-case basis the deportation of people in the country illegally who have committed minor crimes or have extraordinary circumstances, such as students who would have been able to gain legal status under the DREAM Act, which stalled in the last Congress.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/house/168475-smith-bill-would-freeze-obama-a...

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3.
Sen. Durbin chairs hearing on DREAM Act immigration measure
By Lynn Sweet
Chicago Sun Times, June 27, 2011

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is trying again to get the DREAM Act passed and will chair the first-ever Senate hearing Tuesday on the immigration measure to give students in the U.S. illegally a chance to stay.

As a run-up to the DREAM Act hearing in Washington, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel hold a telephone press conference Monday to promote the legislation. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) has been traveling across the nation to build support for the legislation. While White House Chief of Staff, Emanuel was seen as declining to push President Barack Obama to make DREAM Act passage a priority.

In May, Durbin re-introduced the measure on Wednesday, continuing a years long fight.

Last December, after passing the House (then under Democratic control) the measure fell five votes short in the Senate and Durbin vowed to keep trying. In May, Obama boosted the DREAM Act in an immigration speech in Texas, along the U.S./Mexico border where he called for various reforms.
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http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2011/06/sen_durbin_chairs_dream_act_he.html

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4.
Judge blocks parts of Indiana immigration law
The Associated Press, June 26, 2011

A federal judge has blocked parts of the state of Indiana's new immigration law, saying the law was the latest failed effort of states to deal with a primarily federal issue.

U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker granted a request for an injunction blocking two provisions of the law, which was approved this year by Republicans who control the statehouse.

Barker wrote in the ruling that Indiana's law — as well as laws enacted in several other states — was an attempt to deal with what was seen as a failure of the federal government to deal with illegal immigration.

The judge said the two provisions of Indiana's effort to deal with immigration had "proven to be seriously flawed and generally unsuccessful."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and the National Immigration Law Center sued the state in May, contending the law gave police sweeping arrest powers against immigrants who hadn't committed crimes.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-indiana-immigration...

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5.
Governor Haley To Sign Illegal Immigration Bill Monday
WSPA (SC), June 27, 2011

South Carolina lawmakers have given their final approval to a tougher illegal immigration bill and sent it to Gov. Nikki Haley's desk, but critics say it would cost millions and are urging her to veto it, saying they'll sue the state if it becomes law. Governor Haley is expected to sign the measure on Monday afternoon.

The House voted 69 to 43 Tuesday evening to give the bill final approval.

It would require local police in South Carolina to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect is here illegally. The check has to follow an arrest or traffic stop for some other violation and the officer must have probable cause to suspect the person is here illegally.

The bill also requires all businesses to check the legal status of anyone they hire by using the online federal E-Verify system.

Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville, one of the co-sponsors of the bill says, "How large a problem is it? Well, we're seeing more and more usage of illegals of our system, of (our) hospital system, of everything else, so it does have an impact and we have to get it under control."

A coalition of 21 faith and civil rights groups is urging Gov. Haley to veto the bill, saying it will encourage racial profiling. The coalition includes the NAACP, the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center. That coalition, along with the national ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center and National Immigration Law Center, say they will sue the state if the bill becomes law.
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http://www2.wspa.com/news/2011/jun/27/4/sc-lawmakers-send-tougher-illega...