San Diego sheriff defies new policy to limit cooperation with immigration officials
SAN DIEGO– The sheriff of the nation’s fifth-largest county on Tuesday defied a new policy to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, setting up a showdown over a new obstacle to President-elect Donald Trump’s arrival. plans for mass deportation.
Earlier Tuesday, San Diego County supervisors voted to ban the sheriff’s department from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the federal agency’s enforcement of civil immigration laws, including those authorizing deportations. California law generally prohibits cooperation, but makes exceptions for those convicted of certain violent crimes.
“We will not allow our local resources to be used for actions that separate families, erode community trust or divert crucial local resources from addressing our most pressing challenges,” said Nora Vargas, who along with two other Democrats was on the supervisory board. approve the policy.
Shortly afterward, Sheriff Kelly Martinez said the board has not established a set policy for the sheriff, who, like the supervisors, is an elected official. She said she would not respect the new policy.
“Current state law strikes the right balance between limiting local law enforcement cooperation with immigration authorities, ensuring public safety and building trust in the community,” said Martinez, whose office is nonpartisan but who identifies as a Democrat has identified.
San Diego County, with a population of 3.3 million and located on the U.S. border with Mexico, is one of the most prominent local governments stepping up protections for people in the country illegally. At the same time, some states and provinces are gearing up to support Trump’s deportation efforts.
ICE has limited resources to carry out the mass deportations Trump wants. For that reason, the country will rely heavily on sheriffs to notify people in their custody and temporarily detain them, if requested, so that federal officials have time to arrest them on immigration charges.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has singled out San Diego as a place where the new administration’s plans are complicated by “sanctuary laws,” a loose term for state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. He said on Fox News Channel on Sunday that the laws barring ICE from entering county jails “endanger the community.” Unlike San Diego, Homan plans to meet with New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who has expressed interest in working together.
The policy aligns San Diego with seven other California counties, including Los Angeles, the nation’s largest, which recently adopted policies that go beyond state law, Vargas said.
Jim Desmond, the lone dissenter, said it will protect people convicted of violent crimes, citing the 2015 death of 32-year-old Kate Steinle in San Francisco and other stories. high-profile attacks committed by people staying illegally in the country.
“These tragedies are preventable, but sanctuary laws allow them to happen by returning illegal criminals to our communities instead of into the hands of ICE,” said Desmond, a Republican.
Vargas said that “a loophole in state law that allows sheriffs to work with ICE under limited circumstances for people convicted of violent crimes has led to the county turning over 100 to 200 people a year to immigration authorities. ICE now needs a court order to get help from the province.
Before the vote, Martinez, who has largely avoided discussing immigration policy, had taken issue with Vargas’ use of “loophole” to describe state law. She noted that California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has blocked efforts to further limit cooperation with ICE.