Immigration Politics - Colorado: Secure Communities bill passes House committee

Perhaps we should be posting this under our heading, "Immigration Madness." This bill makes no sense, as the Department of Homeland Security has made it clear that once a state signs an agreement to participate in Secure Communities - as Colorado has - local communities cannot opt out of it.

Secure Communities bill passes House committee | Colorado Independent: "A bill compelling local governments in Colorado to comply with the controversial federal Secure Communities program passed its first hurdle today on a 7-4 committee vote, with Rep. John Soper, D-Thornton, being the lone Democrat voting in favor of the bill.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, would take away state local government grants from those governments choosing not to comply with the ICE program.

Former Gov. Bill Ritter signed the memorandum of agreement in January with Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement office to bring Secure Communities to Colorado. The federal program will run fingerprints of all individuals arrested against ICE records and will automatically inform the law enforcement agency and ICE of the individual’s immigration status if it is known by the agency."