According to the Los Angeles Times, The Department of Homeland security is considering reducing the deportations of nonviolent immigrants in the United States in an effort to move along with immigration policies that have remained almost stagnant for the past year.

City and county jails all throughout the country are refusing federal requests to hold foreigners accountable who have overstayed their visas or slipped across the border. Now, the Obama Administration is thinking through a new policy that would limit the deportations of immigrants convicted of nonviolent crimes, focusing more on the individuals convicted of acting violently.

The Homeland Security Secretary is expected to recommend some of these small changes to Secure Communities. Right now, repeat immigration violators are set alongside violent criminals on the priority list for deportation. This new policy would take repeat offenders off of this priority list. Making this change would slow deportations and ease concerns for immigrants who are currently terrified of any contact with the police. The White House also hopes that this move would help Latin groups to accept the president instead of derail him as a "deporter."

Advocates say that this move would help local police to concentrate on arresting dangerous criminals and make immigration enforcement more humane. The President says that this move would create a fresh start for Secure Communities. At present, the move is mostly talk and nothing has been done to scale down the deportations yet. Through Secure Communities, more than 283,000 people have been deported.

The program requires state and local law enforcement agencies to hold detainees up for 48 hours plus weekends until an ICE agent arrives. This way the federal officer can demand deportation. If you want more information about this possible policy and how it affects your current status, call a lawyer at a local immigration firm today!