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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Organizations Call for the

Immediate Elimination of ICE's "Secure Communities" Program

On August 5, 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton

informed governors that ICE would terminate all agreements with states to implement its

controversial fingerprint-sharing Secure Communities (S-Comm) program, despite previouslysaying that states and counties could opt-out or modify that agreement. This announcement

came as a result of powerful community mobilization throughout the country to challenge

S-Comm and expose the harmful consequences of police/ICE collaboration.

LGBTQ immigrants--particularly LGBTQ youth of color, low-income LGBTQ people, and

LGBTQ survivors of violence--are disproportionately impacted by S-Comm and all ICE

ACCESS programs, a set of thirteen federal programs that create partnership between

federal law enforcement and local, state, and tribal police and courts.

Because of widespread police profiling, selective enforcement, and poverty, LGBTQ immigrants

come into high rates of contact with law enforcement, leading to a greater risk for deportation,now made even greater by programs such as S-Comm. Unfortunately, these programs are only

the first steps in the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) biometric-sharing Next GenerationIdentification (NGI), a massive searchable database of palm print, fingerprint, and iris scans as

well as scar, mark, tattoo, and facial recognition that will be accessible across federal agencies,including the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.

As LGBTQ leaders, activists, and community members, we call on President Obama to

take decisive action to eliminate these destructive programs that target and have severe

consequences for LGBTQ people, low-income people, immigrants, people of color,

survivors of violence, and young people.

How S-Comm Harms LGBTQ Communities:

Police/ICE collaboration further endangers LGBTQ communities and allcommunities with less access to resources. All immigrants in this country struggle tofind safe and secure housing, healthcare, employment, and education while living in fear

of deportation. Immigrants who are LGBTQ are particularly vulnerable to detention and

deportation because they are more likely to come into contact with law enforcement

through police profiling and discriminatory enforcement of minor offenses, as well asthrough false or dual arrest when they attempt to survive or flee violence. Officials often

use excessive force and coercion against LGBTQ people at the scene of arrest, including

threats of deportation. Once in jail, prison, or immigration detention, LGBTQ peopleexperience rampant and sometimes fatal sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, mirroringthe abuse many face from partners, employers, and neighbors outside.

Police/ICE collaboration programs scapegoat LGBTQ immigrant communities andall marginalized groups of people by labeling them as criminals. LGBTQcommunities like all marginalized communities face higher rates of poverty, violence,

and unemployment. By labeling these communities criminals, S-Comm and other

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similar programs undermine the ability of communities and policymakers to create long-

term solutions to these critical issues.

Deporting and increasing surveillance of people does not create safety. Removingpeople from their homes and communities breaks apart biological and chosen family,

drains resources, and creates a culture of fear. In addition to anticipating anti-LGBTQ

bias, the fear of being referred to ICE can discourage LGBTQ immigrants from accessingsupportive services. Many LGBTQ people face strained relationships with their

biological families, and depend on others in their community for support. S-Comm and

other similar programs tear at the fabric of these life-saving networks. True safety comesfrom whole, fully-resourced communities where everyone has the support they need to

thrive.

Complex problems require complex solutions. Programs like S-Comm distort andexacerbate the real problems communities face. For example, LGBTQ people oftenimmigrate to the U.S. because of persecution and discrimination in their countries of

origin. Upon finding similar discrimination in this country, LGBTQ people often turn to

criminalized and underground economies to survive or are profiled or subjected to

selective enforcement for minor offenses based on their sexual or gender non-conformity,leading to criminal charges and a greater risk of deportation under S-Comm and other

similar programs. Instead of punishing people for their survival, we would be wise toaddress the underlying lack of economic and educational opportunity, destructive

economic policies, and intergenerational legacies of trauma and bias that truly jeopardize

our communities.

For these reasons and more, we invite LGBTQ leaders, organizations, and elected officials to

join in this critical opportunity to defend the dignity and well-being of our most vulnerablecommunity members and urge President Obama to immediately eliminate S-Comm and all

police/ICE collaboration.

Please see the 2010 National Report on Anti-LGBT Hate Violencefor stories and statisticsdocumenting LGBTQ interactions with law enforcement. If you or someone you know would

like to share your experience being impacted by S-Comm or challenging the program, please

contactmorgan@cuav.orgor (415) 777-5500 x318.

GROWING LIST OF ENDORSERS:

3rd Space, Phoenix, AZ

AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Ali Forney Center, New York, NY

An American Rainbow Foundation, Boulder, Co

API Equality - Northern California, San Francisco, CAAsian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence, San Francisco, CA

Astraea Lesbians Foundation for Justice, New York, NY

Audre Lorde Project, New York, NY

Beloit College DREAMers, Beoit, WI

Best Practices Policy Project, Washington, DC

Black and Pink, National Office in Boston, MA

http://www.avp.org/documents/NCAVPHateViolenceReport2011Finaledjlfinaledits.pdfhttp://www.avp.org/documents/NCAVPHateViolenceReport2011Finaledjlfinaledits.pdfmailto:morgan@cuav.orgmailto:morgan@cuav.orgmailto:morgan@cuav.orgmailto:morgan@cuav.orghttp://www.avp.org/documents/NCAVPHateViolenceReport2011Finaledjlfinaledits.pdf

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Black and Proud, Baton Rouge, LA

BreakOUT!, New Orleans, LA

Brown Boi Project, Oakland, CA

Capital City Alliance, Baton Rouge, LA

Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), New York, NY

COLAGE, National Office in San Francisco, CA

Colorado Anti-Violence Program (CAVP), Denver, CO

Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington, DC

Community United Against Violence (CUAV), San Francisco, CA

Desiree Alliance, National

Different Avenues, Washington D.C.

El/La Program Para TransLatinas, San Francisco, CA

Equality Louisiana, Baton Rouge, LA

FIERCE, New York City, NY

Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY), New York, NYGay-Straight Alliance Network, San Francisco, CA

Gendercast, Seattle, WA

GetEQUAL, National

Gender JUST, Chicago, IL

GRIOT Circle Inc., Brooklyn, NY

Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, San Francisco, CA

HAVOQ/San Francisco Pride at Work, San Francisco, CA

Latino Commission on AIDS, New York, NY

Lavender Youth Recreation & Information Center (LYRIC), San Francisco, CA

The LGBTQ Project of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Louisiana State University, BatonRouge, LA

Louisiana Trans Advocates, Baton Rouge, LA

Make the Road New York, New York City & Suffolk County

Mangos With Chili, Oakland, CA

Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), Boston, MA

National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), National Office in San Francisco, CA

National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), National Office in New York, NY

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, National Office in Washington D.C.

The Network/La Red, Boston, MA

One Colorado, Colorado State

Our Family Coalition, San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Our4Immigration, National Based in San Francisco, CA

OUTlaw of Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA

Out Now, Springfield, MA

Peter Cicchino Youth Project, New York, NY

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Positive Force, Washington, DC

Queer Asian Women & Transgender Support Program of Asian Women's Shelter, San Francisco,

CA

Queer Latina Network, Santa Cruz, CA

Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP), San Francisco, CA

Queers for Economic Justice, New York, NY

Rev. Dr. Michael Tino, Mount Kisco, NY

Rev. Lynn Gardner, Auburn, CA

San Francisco Trans March, San Francisco, CA

Sex Workers Action New York (SWANK), New York, NY

Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) Denver, Denver, CO

Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) NYC, New York, NY

Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center, New York, NY

Southerners On New Ground (SONG), Southern Regional

Spectrum LGBT Center, Marin County, CAStreetwise & Safe (SAS), New York, NY

Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP), New York, NY

Thrive Social Justice, Oakland, CA

Transformative Alliances LLC, Denver, CO

Transgender, Gender Variant, & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP), San Francisco, CA

Transgender Individuals Living Their Truth, Inc. (TILTT), Atlanta, GA

Transgender Law Center (TLC), Statewide Office in San Francisco, CA

Trikone Northwest, Seattle, WA

Trinity Place Shelter, New York, NY

Women Organized to Make Abuse Nonexistent (WOMAN Inc.), San Francisco, CAWomen Organizing Women of Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA

Women With a Vision, Inc., New Orleans, LA

Womens Health and Justice Initiative, New Orleans, LA