Hundreds gathered in Los Angeles on Monday night for a chance to address a federal task force that will propose changes to a controversial immigration enforcement program.
Speaker after speaker at the lively meeting denounced the Secure Communities program, with most not calling for changes but for the program to end entirely.
“I’m here asking the government to end this Secure Communities program,” said Blanca Perez, an undocumented worker who was arrested for selling ice cream from a cart on the street and then placed into deportation proceedings. “I am not a criminal, nor am I a bad person. I am simply a person who wants to work.”
Dozens walked out of the hearing at St. Anne's Residential Facility, shouting “terminate the program!” and calling on task force members to resign.
The task force was formed in response to growing criticism of the Department of Homeland Security enforcement program, which shares fingerprints collected by state and local police to help immigration authorities identify and deport tens of thousands of people each year.
The program, which was touted as a way to identify and deport convicted felons, has been criticized for also ensnaring minor offenders, victims of domestic abuse and other crimes, as well as witnesses to crimes and people who were arrested but not convicted of offenses.
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