Secure Communities Program launches under Bush in Texas and North Carolina

ICE launched the Secure Communities program in October 2008, beginning in Harris County, Texas, and jurisdictions in North Carolina. The program created an automated data-sharing pipeline: fingerprints taken upon arrest by local police were forwarded to the FBI and then cross-checked against DHS's Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT), triggering an ICE detainer request if a match indicated removability. The Bush administration recruited 14 jurisdictions in the pilot year, designing the program to eventually reach all 3,141 local jails and prisons nationwide.