Today, February 22, 2012, after a two-year pilot program, Connecticut is scheduled to launch a statewide Secure Communities program. The pilot program was initiated [PDF] in May of 2010. According to the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School, 71 percent of deportations through the pilot program involved people with no criminal background or those who had only committed minor infractions.

The Secure Communities program, which became a part of federal immigration policy in 2008, has been criticized [PDF] by immigration advocates for its lack of fairness, transparency and respect for human rights. Secure Communities is a federal program aimed at identifying and removing individuals that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) refers to as "criminal aliens." Neighboring New York's Governor, Andrew Cuomo (D), suspended the state's program last fall, noting that his administration would "review the mounting evidence that the program is not meeting its stated goal and has serious consequences for witnesses, victims of crime and law enforcement."

In September of 2011, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) task force found [PDF] that Secure Communities has created confusion between the roles of municipal and state law enforcement officials. In addition, advocates have argued that the program hinders community-based policing, and splits up thousands of families with unnecessary deportations. While DHS had been permitting states to opt out of the program, the agency has asserted that participation in the Secure Communities program is now mandatory. Connecticut's Governor, Dan Malloy (D), has stated that his administration will review "ICE detention requests on a case-by-case basis."