On May 22, the entire state of Vermont became an active member of the Secure Communications strategy operated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service as a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Vermont’s membership in the program brings the total of activated jurisdictions to 2,900 out of 3,181 listed on the ICE website. Currently, only the state of Maine has no activated jurisdictions involved in the program. The state of Pennsylvania has only three of 67 active jurisdictions; Alabama 37 active jurisdictions out of total of 67 and, Illinois 26 active jurisdictions out of a total of 102. The remaining 46 states and Puerto Rico operate a 100 percent membership in the program. According to the ICE website, as of March 31, 2012, a total of 135,188 “convicted criminal aliens [have been] removed from the United States” since the program was first activated in 2008.