Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto said he is looking into his agency’s participation in a controversial Department of Homeland Security program intended to deport undocumented immigrants convicted of serious crimes.

In a telephone news conference this week with legal experts, elected officials, victim advocates and other law-enforcement leaders, Prieto said the federal Secure Communities Act appears to be falling short of its goal to remove “the worst of the worst” from U.S. borders.

Prieto said “a high percentage” of those being deported under the measure in Yolo County have been convicted of low-level offenses, such as traffic violations, or not convicted of anything at all. He plans to research the program to determine whether it should apply to minor offenders.

If not, “we will not be contacting ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and putting an ICE hold on these individuals,” Prieto said during the Wednesday news conference. “These kinds of programs are not essential and not beneficial to the community.”

Prieto also said he is participating in pending legislation, Assembly Bill 1081, that would enable California counties to opt out of the program.

Launched in October 2008, the Secure Communities Act calls for those booked into local jails on criminal charges to have their fingerprints run through a DHS computer database.

Nearly 1,300 counties in 42 states are participating in the program, which so far has resulted in the deportation of more than 100,000 undocumented immigrants, according to published reports.

Backers of the program have hailed its success in removing dangerous criminals from the country. And Prieto stressed that his agency will continue to notify ICE of violent-crime suspects who are booked into his jail.

But some law-enforcement leaders say the program also hinders community policing efforts by turning police officers into immigration enforcers.

“It has really hindered law-enforcement’s ability to work in Hispanic communities,” said Kane County Sheriff Patrick Perez of Illinois, where Gov. Patrick Quinn terminated the state’s participation in the program earlier this year.

“A lot of crimes have actually gone unsolved because people are afraid to come forward for fear of being deported,” Perez said.

Leslye Orloff, vice president and director of the Legal Momentum Immigrant Women Program in Washington, D.C., said Secure Communities also has undermined victim protection measures in domestic violence and sexual assault cases.

“When the victim is non-English speaking, the ability to determine who is the perpetrator slips away in many of these cases,” Orloff said. As a result, “victims are getting detained at a much higher rate.”

Matt Rexroad, chairman of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, said Thursday the board has neither discussed nor taken a position on the immigration enforcement issue.

Speaking personally, however, Rexroad said he sees inconsistencies in Prieto’s stance compared to one he took in 2007 regarding marijuana possession. Then, the sheriff said his deputies would continue to cite people in possession of the drug — a violation of federal law — even if they produced a medical marijuana card.

“I understand his argument — I get it,” Rexroad said. “What I have a hard time reconciling is we’re going to pick and choose what laws we’re going to enforce. It doesn’t seem to match up with my assessment of where law enforcement wants to be.”

Prieto said he has been advised by the Mexican Consulate that his agency is not mandated to comply with the program. Still, he anticipates some “major resistance” to his stance from other members of his own department.

“Some of my management is not 100 percent in support of this,” Prieto said. “But I’m glad this is being looked at in a very rigid manner.”

— Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected] or (530) 747-8048. Follow her at www.twitter.com/laurenkeene.

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