On the heels of the president's executive action, the decision by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end the deeply-flawed Secure Communities program is a step in the right direction. But with a new program in its place that will target "enforcement priorities," we are cautious.

This decision acknowledges that the Secure Communities program had led to widespread civil rights violations, wasted taxpayer dollars and undermined community trust in local law enforcement.

For years, the ACLU of California has campaigned and litigated to end this ill-conceived and harmful program:

CA Counties Interactive Map: See which counties have said "no" to ICE holds.

 

• ​​Two ACLU Foundation of Southern California class-action lawsuits are pending in federal court challenging the constitutionality of immigration detainees. (Gonzalez v. ICE; Roy v. County of Los Angeles)
• The ACLU of California worked with law enforcement agencies across the state to ensure that they did not hold people on immigration detainers - the signature feature of the Secure Communities program - in violation of the constitution. Nearly all of California's counties stopped complying with detainers earlier this year. See map.

Under the new directive, ICE will no longer request that local law enforcement agencies detain individuals on their behalf except in certain circumstances. ​But through a new Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), ICE will continue to notify local law enforcement of anyone in custody that they believe may be subject to removal and rely on local cooperation to transfer certain individuals.

We're concerned that by entangling local law enforcement in the federal business of immigration enforcement, PEP will only perpetuate the problems we've long advocated against. We've been down this road of 'reprioritizing' before and have seen ICE continue to detain and deport people who have no prior criminal record and have not committed a serious offense. ​

Much work remains.

J​ennie Pasquarella is staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California. Follow ACLU SoCal on Twitter. ​ 

Today, communities around the world remember those whose lives have been unjustly ended by ignorance and hate. And everyday, we honor them with our relentless spirit in the struggle for transgender civil rights.

Since the 1960s, the ACLU of Southern California has recognized itself as an LGBT rights organization, whose mission includes the advancement of transgender and gender non-conforming civil rights.

In 1967, we challenged Los Angeles’s ordinance that barred performers from “impersonating” people of a different gender. We won. In 1980, we embraced transgender struggles as our own and established the Transsexual Rights Committee. And earlier this year, we helped pass state law that gives transgender students the opportunity to succeed in public schools. See our timeline for more ACLU transgender rights victories.

Today, under the auspices of our new LGBT, Gender & Reproductive Justice Project, we are working hard to expand transgender rights by focusing on:

• Creating safe and bias-free schools for transgender youth.
• Enforcing laws that prohibit gender identity and gender expression discrimination, with particular regard to access to gender-segregated facilities and health care.
• Ensuring transgender people are treated with dignity and that their gender identity is respected when interacting with law enforcement or when incarcerated.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is about reflection and renewal. We remember our family members, friends and neighbors and reaffirm our commitment to justice in their name.

Joey Hernández is community engagement and policy advocate at the ACLU of Southern California. Follow ACLU SoCal on Twitter.