Secure Communities is a common-sense federal program where the fingerprints of persons already in jail are sent to a national database to determine immigration status. Yet the open-borders Raza-tarians condemn the policy as an affront of the self-designated right of illegal aliens to break any American laws they want.

Interestingly, the Obama administration recently removed traffic violations from Secure Communities, even though illegal alien drivers, drunk and otherwise, are a major cause of foreigner-caused death among Americans. The new directive supposedly does not cover drunk driving illegal aliens — yet. When memories fade about shocking cases like the death of the nun Denise Mosier at the hands of a drunk-driving Bolivian, inebriated drivers will likely be quietly included among Obama’s protected class.

But today, the news is good. Despite Governor Deval Patrick’s stubborn defense of foreign criminals, the feds finally implemented Secure Communities in the Bay State.

Even the Boston Herald’s editorial board concurred that government protecting public safety is a good idea:

State now more secure, Boston Herald, May 11, 2012

To the bitter end the Patrick administration wanted it made clear that deploying the federal Secure Communities program in Massachusetts was absolutely not its idea. It simply defies logic that a team largely responsible for the safety of 6 million citizens would so vigorously resist a program that targets a small number of illegal aliens who have committed a crime.

Finally, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has gotten around to including Massachusetts on the list of states where sharing information on local arrests with federal immigration authorities will now be automatic and mandatory.

Local law enforcement agencies have of course always run fingerprints on suspects through FBI criminal databases. But that information now will be shared automatically with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will determine how to proceed if a suspect is not a legal resident.

It’s not as if there has been a lack of evidence that action is needed. Just ask the family of Matthew Denice. Nicolas Guaman, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador with a record of prior arrests, stands accused of being behind the wheel of a pickup truck that struck and killed Denice last year. Had Secure Communities been in place when Guaman was arrested back in 2008 for assaulting a cop, it is no exaggeration to say Denice might still be alive. 

Patrick has long insisted he couldn’t unilaterally “join” Secure Communities. And he’s right. But he certainly could have lobbied his friends at the White House to include Massachusetts among the active states sooner, which he refused to do.

In a recent speech the governor decried immigration laws in other states that establish “an environment of fear.” But what of the very legitimate fears of those who choose to abide by the rules of this commonwealth and this country? As the state’s chief executive Patrick should put their needs first.