Civil rights groups will be knocking on Attorney General-elect Kamala Harris’ office door come January in an effort to opt out of a controversial federal program that collects the fingerprint data of anyone arrested to see if they are illegal immigrants.

Asian Law Caucus attorney Angela Chan said she hopes once Harris takes office she will meet to discuss changing California’s current stance on Secure Communities. Attorney General Jerry Brown has refused to allow counties to opt out of the program, and Harris has yet to develop a stance on the issue.

San Francisco and Santa Clara counties have both passed resolutions to opt out of the program, and Berkeley just passed its own resolution to do the same.

“It’s certainly within her power, with the stroke of a pen, to allow local governments to opt out of Secure Communities,” Chan said.

bbegin@sfexaminer.com