This thesis examines the federal government’s progression in implementing the Secure Communities program. The Secure Communities program was initiated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2008 as a pilot program in only fourteen jurisdictions nation-wide. As of the writing of this thesis, four years following the initiation of the program, S-Comm. has been implemented in over 1700 jurisdictions nation-wide and it is set to be implemented in all local jurisdictions nationally by the end of 2013 (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2012). Although local law enforcement agencies had long shared the fingerprints of those they arrested with the FBI, the FBI now forwards this information to the DHS through S-Comm. who then checks the fingerprints against the Automated Biometric Identification System known as IDENT—a fingerprint database containing information on over 91 million individuals, including travelers, applicants for immigration benefits, and immigrants who have previously violated immigration laws. ICE then supposedly reviews their records to see if the person arrested is deportable. If they believe they are, or want to further interrogate them, ICE will issue a detainer. The detainer is a request to the local police to inform federal immigration authorities when the arrestee will be released from custody and to hold the individual for up to two days for transfer to ICE (The Chief Justice, 2011). This process is considered to be the most advanced form of file sharing between local authorities and federal immigration authorities yet. The focus of this endeavor is to evaluate whether this program has been effective in doing as its title maintains. If this program is one that the American people, documented or not, have to endure then it is important that we ask: has Secure Communities made American communities safer? Recent data collected on the program, reports of mass opposition to the initiative by local law enforcement officials throughout the country, and numerous personal accounts of discriminatory harassment of mostly Spanish-speaking Americans by federal immigration agents and state and local law enforcement officials participating in Secure Communities collectively demonstrate that this program has failed in making American communities more secure. / text

Multilayered immigration enforcement regimes comprising state and federal statutes and local police practices demand research on their social and health-related consequences. This dissertation explores the multiple impacts of immigrant policing: sets of laws and police activities that make undocumented immigrants more visible to authorities and increase their risk of deportation. Examining immigrant policing through a multi-sited framework and drawing from principles of engaged anthropology, findings from this dissertation suggest how immigrant policing impacts undocumented immigrants' overall wellbeing, health providers' professional practice, and reveals troubles with safety net medical care. Interviews and participant observation experiences suggest how immigrant policing perpetuates a type of fear-based governance that shapes where undocumented immigrants seek health services, the types of services they seek, and exacerbates intimate partner violence. Moreover, research findings point to how immigrant rights organizations and health providers resist biopolitical efforts to control undocumented immigrants, especially in situations of life or death when institutional authority may limit how undocumented immigrants receive life-sustaining care. Findings from this research respond to calls to examine state immigration laws and their impact on health, and demonstrate the lived experiences of undocumented immigrants in Atlanta who confront an increasingly hostile immigration system.

Local Law Enforcement and Immigration: Lessons and Recommendations from Police Executives (2007-2021) Tonya D. Chapman ABSTRACT The Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) authorized the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to enter into memoranda of agreement with local law enforcement under section 287(g). The 287(g) program includes the Task Force Model (TFM), Jail Enforcement Model (JEM), Secure Communities (SC), the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) model and the Warrant Service Officer (WSO) Model, which authorizes specific responsibilities of immigration enforcement to local law enforcement agencies. This dissertation examines the impact of local law enforcement's participation in the various 287(g) programs from the perspective of law enforcement executives. Local law enforcement was granted the responsibility in part because Congress and local elected officials believed that immigration increased crime. However, as of 2022, little research on the nexus between crime and immigration supports that claim; nor does it support the claim that crime rates fell as a result of local law enforcement's participation in the 287(g) programs. Consistent with prior research, this dissertation finds that immigration enforcement has a "null or non-significant" effect on crime in these jurisdictions in comparison to jurisdictions that did not participate in the 287(g) programs. Moreover, this dissertation shows that law enforcement's participation in immigration enforcement led to unintended consequences, including adverse impacts on police legitimacy (trust and fear), perceived crime reporting by immigrant communities, and their community policing efforts. This research provides guidance on best practices to law enforcement in an effort to re-imagine the profession in accordance with procedural justice principles. It examines whether and how immigration enforcement has posed challenges for building trust, legitimacy, community engagement and transparency for law enforcement; looks at whether federal mandates and immigration enforcement affected the advancement of community policing and procedural justice; provides insight on lessons learned from law enforcement's perspective; and contributes to research on the immigration-crime nexus. / Doctor of Philosophy / Local Law Enforcement and Immigration: Lessons and Recommendations from Police Executives (2007-2021) Tonya D. Chapman GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT Section 287(g) under the Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) authorized the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to enter into memoranda of agreement with local law enforcement agencies to participate in immigration enforcement. Under Section 287(g), ICE implemented 5 programs, including the Task Force Model (TFM), Jail Enforcement Model (JEM), Secure Communities (SC), the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) model, and the Warrant Service Officer (WSO) model. This dissertation examines the impact of local law enforcement's participation in the 287(g) programs, from the perspective of law enforcement executives. This dissertation shows that law enforcement's participation in immigration enforcement led to unintended consequences, including adverse impacts on police legitimacy (trust and fear), perceived crime reporting by immigrant communities, and their community policing efforts. The dissertation also finds that immigration enforcement has a "null or non-significant" effect on crime. This research provides guidance on best practices to law enforcement in an effort to re-imagine the profession in accordance with fair and impartial policing principles.