Janet Napolitano Clarifies Immigration Program

San Francisco Chronicle: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Monday acknowledged a storm of criticism from lawmakers and immigration-rights supporters over a federal effort targeting criminal immigrants, saying there has been confusion over whether local communities can choose not to participate in the program known as Secure Communities. But she added that local governments cannot decide on their own to "exclude themselves" from its fingerprint-checking database. "This whole opt-in, opt-out thing was a misunderstanding from the get-go ... and we have tried to correct that," Napolitano said during a visit to The Chronicle's editorial board. She said communications from the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division - known as ICE - were "subject to misinterpretation."