Overcrowded city and county jails have led President Barack Obama and his administration to make changes to the Secure Communities program, which ranks repeat immigration violators as high as violent offenders on the priority list for deportations.

Because many of the nation's jails have had to refuse federal requests to hold non-violent foreigners, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is expected to propose a change to the controversial program that would limit deportations to immigrants who are convicted of violent crimes, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Obama, who is known as the "deporter in chief" by labor and Latino groups, has come under fire for his administration's tough stance on enforcing immigration laws.

Advocates to the change said that it would quell the fears of undocumented immigrants who are afraid of the police as well as allow local law enforcement to focus primarily on catching violent criminals.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that the president is concerned about the undocumented and their families who are being torn apart but is having Johnson handle the policy analysis.

Johnson has spoken with police in private meetings and told them he is considering placing limits on when immigration agents could ask local jails to hold undocumented immigrants who have been arrested.

He also told PBS's "NewsHour" on May 15 that the Secure Communities program needed a "fresh start."

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, between 2008 and April 2014, more than 283,000 people were deported under the program. Under the program, state and local law enforcement agencies can hold detained immigrants in their holding cells for up to 48 hours until an ICE agent arrives, The Times Reported.

A comprehensive immigration reform bill has since been stalled in the Republican-led House after being passed in the Senate last year. Many GOP members have expressed doubts that even if the bill gets approved, Obama would not enforce its laws.

House Speaker John Boehner said if the Obama administration were to make changes now, it would result in a setback for the immigration bill that the president has staunchly supported. He warned that the suspicions of House Republicans would only get worse.

"Until the president gives us some confidence that we can trust him to implement an immigration reform bill," Boehner said, "we really don't have much to talk about."

Senate Republicans also said they oppose any changes to Secure Communities, which was enacted under former president George W. Bush, while there is still an immigration reform bill pending the House's approval.

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