Immigrant advocacy groups said the program could discourage immigrants from reporting crimes while encouraging police to practice racial profiling.
Deval L. PatrickBOSTON – Gov. Deval L. Patrick has decided Massachusetts won’t participate in a federal program that checks the immigration status of people who are arrested.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Massachusetts Public Safety Secretary Mary Beth Heffernan said Patrick has decided not to sign any memorandum of understanding for the state to participate in the federal Secure Communities program.
Patrick had previously said he believed the state might have no choice but to participate in the program.
Immigrant advocacy groups had urged Patrick not to sign onto the program, saying it could discourage immigrants from reporting crimes while encouraging police to practice racial profiling.
Defenders of the program say it only targets immigrants arrested for committing violent crimes and is not an effort to enforce federal immigration laws.