Carlos Castillo is among the men he says are here illegally, who come to a Home Depot in Northeast D.C. hoping for someone to hire them for a few hours of work. But with the new Secure Communities law that starts Tuesday, he’s not sure he won’t have a problem with police.

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He was among those who joined D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and council members on the steps of City Hall to denounce the federal law

"We are not going to go about being an immigration agent for the federal government," Gray says.

According to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, under Secure Communities, the FBI automatically sends the fingerprints to ICE to check against immigration data bases.

Lizbeth Mateo who also lacks legal status here. She says a simple traffic ticket could turn into a visit with ICE.

The city's position seems to be it will cooperate with the feds, but as little as possible.

"Local law enforcement is at risk with this Secure Communities program,” says City Councilman Phil Mendelson. “When people are afraid to report crimes because they're afraid they're going to be caught up in the federal immigration process ten we all suffer."