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UPDATE: Via VivirLatino: 15,000 documents on Secure Communities have been released after litigation by the National Day Laborers Organizing Network brought forward under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents reveal blatant federal manipulation of local law enforcement as they suggest that S-Comm is involuntary.

The Secure Communities program, or S-Comm, has been adopted by the North Carolina counties of Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Hyde, Pamlico, Tyrrell and Washington. That means 92% of North Carolina counties participate in the program. It is likely that the remaining eight counties will join in the next few weeks.

Secure Communities is a program that began in 2007 in Texas and North Carolina that allows local officials to place a detainer on individuals that police believe are in the country without a current visa. Biometric identification is used to verify the immigration status and criminal history of those arrested by local law enforcement and supposedly allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prioritize the deportation of violent criminals. According to the ICE website:

“If fingerprints match DHS records, ICE determines if immigration enforcement action is required, considering the immigration status of the alien, the severity of the crime and the alien’s criminal history.”

However, local jurisdictions across the country have taken issue with the program, saying that it encourages racial profiling and the deportation of a large number of non-criminals. After San Francisco requested to opt-out of the program, ICE was unsure in its response as to whether or not the program was voluntary, and which jurisdiction (either local or state) was responsible for choosing to opt-out of the program.

President Obama has stated his support for Secure Communities and hopes to expand the program over the next few years.